By Sandra Guile
Better Business Bureau
Con artists are crafty when it comes to convincing people to give personal information, donate money to a bogus charity, or pay for a service that is otherwise available for free. The con artist feeds on fear and intimidation and are not shy about using intense persuasion tactics to get what they want.
The FBI reports scammers are now targeting parents and are trying to convince them that they’ve abducted your child or loved one.
It’s usually an unknown caller or the phone call is from an area code outside of the United States. Once the call is picked up, someone can be heard screaming or crying in the background. The caller uses first names – either yours or the hostaged relative’s – along with a personal fact used to convince you that they truly have the person they say they have. In order for your relative to be released safely, you are told to wire $600 or more to the kidnapper right away.
According to the FBI, most of the calls they’ve been able to trace originate in Puerto Rico or other locations outside of the U.S.
The victims of the scams state the calls are convincing because of the noise in the background, the overwhelming emotions they experience at the time of the call, and the threatening tone of the caller. The caller maintains a sense of an urgency and keeps the victim on the line long enough to convince them to wire the ransom. The troubling part is that this whole scenario is centered around information that scammers can gather from the Internet.
The scam artist lurks on social media to gather details about their victims’ lives. They’ll work in teams; they may have someone pretend to be either the supposed abductee themselves or a friend of the person they have allegedly abducted.
If you receive this type of call, try to remain calm and ask to speak to the kidnapped victim. Listen carefully to the victim’s voice and ask them a question only they would know the answer to that isn’t posted on social media. If possible, while keeping the same call on the line, try to connect with the victim by text on another media device.
Attempt to delay the conversation by repeating the caller’s request and explain you’ll need more time to meet their needs. Once you’re confident that the person you’ve been speaking with isn’t your loved one or one of their friends, give yourself peace of mind and call them to confirm that they are all right.
If you ever receive a threatening call against you or one of your loved ones, contact local police. Try to remember any details of the conversation, sounds heard in the background, the caller’s phone number, and any identifying remarks that were made so that law enforcement can get a better idea of how to handle the situation.
Help police find scammers and alert others by using BBB’s Scam Tracker.
Sandra Guile is the Community Outreach Specialist for BBB. She promotes BBB’s message of marketplace ethics through public speaking engagements, presentations, media relations, press releases, web content, and other written materials. Tune in Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. with Scott Sloan on 700WLW for The Scam of the Week and every third Thursday with Brian Thomas on 55KRC. Contact Sandra at (513) 639-9126 or sguile@cincinnati.bbb.org. Your BBB is located at 1 East 4th Street Suite 600 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. To reach the office, call (513) 421-3015.