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Advice & More August 2015

Dollar Sense

Kidnapped! A Scam without Borders or Conscience

By Teresa Ambord

As the caller continued his vicious rant on the speaker phone, Darlene muffled the receiver, quietly picked up the land line phone on her desk and dialed 911. She couldn’t speak to the person who answered the call, but counted on the dispatcher to correctly read the situation and send help. Meanwhile she continued to answer his questions in a calm, but loud voice.

Darlene was at work — actually just a few miles from my home — when her cell phone rang. Distracted, she didn’t notice the strange area code. Nobody said hello. Instead, all Darlene heard were muffled screams of “Mom, they’ve got me in a van!” Her heart stopped, gripped with fear as anyone would be when they believe a loved one is in grave danger.

Then over the screams came the voice of an older man with a Hispanic accent. He instructed her to call no one, not the police, and not her daughter’s cell phone. If she did, he would kill her daughter. Half out of her mind, Darlene started babbling, and the man ordered her to shut up and just listen. Then he proceeded to tell her how he enjoyed cruelty and all the ways he would hurt her daughter if Darlene didn’t cooperate. That meant contacting no one, and providing him with money.

Panicked but Smart

Later, when she told the story to reporters at the local paper, she described herself as completely panicked. Yet when it counted, she had the presence of mind to handle the situation well. As the caller continued his vicious rant on the speaker phone, Darlene muffled the receiver, quietly picked up the land line phone on her desk and dialed 911. She couldn’t speak to the person who answered the call, but counted on the dispatcher to correctly read the situation and send help. Meanwhile she continued to answer his questions in a calm, but loud voice.

The caller demanded whatever money she could come up with. So she bought time by lying. She said she was in her car, trying to find a parking space in a parking garage so she could write down his instructions. “You’re not in a car,” he barked, “If you’re in a car honk the horn.” Thinking fast, she ran outside to her car and honked the horn, appeasing him.

Help!

Within minutes the police arrived. Darlene had to juggle talking to them, with the phone muffled, and taking orders from the caller. The police asked for her daughter’s phone number, but she was afraid if the caller really had her daughter, she’d soon be dead. The police followed her to her bank, where she withdrew money, with the caller still on the line. Somehow, the police persuaded her to give them her daughter’s number. They called, and found her daughter at home in her bed, asleep and unharmed.

At that point, Darlene said, she crumpled to the ground right there in the parking lot. “It was horrifying… I was on the phone for 30 minutes. Anything I asked him...he had a response for everything.” When she’d asked if she could talk to her daughter he said “You talk to her, you’re saying goodbye.” It seemed clear that this caller had pulled this scam before.

It sounds like the story line of a bad movie, but it really happened, not far from my home in a fairly rural area of far northern California. I’d never heard of this exact scam before, but a quick check of the Internet showed that it has plagued areas across south Texas. The calls generally come from outside the country, and seem to be random, and growing.

Law enforcement says, when your phone rings, always pay attention to the area code. Some areas codes that have been used are 787, 939, 856, and 551, but there may be others. If you find yourself in a threatening situation like Darlene did, the FBI says:

  • Stay calm.
  • Try to slow the situation down. Request to speak to the victim directly. Ask, "How do I know my loved one is okay?"
  • If they don't allow you to speak to the victim, ask them to describe the victim.
  • Listen carefully to the voice of the kidnapped victim if they speak.
  • Attempt to call, text or contact the victim via social media. Request that the victim call back from his or her cell phone.
  • While staying on the line with the "kidnappers," try to call the alleged kidnap victim from another telephone.
  • To buy time, repeat the caller's request and tell them you are writing down the demand, or tell the caller you need time to get things moving.
  • Don't directly challenge or argue with the caller. Keep your voice low and steady.
  • Request the kidnapped victim call you back from his/her cell phone.
  • Avoid sharing information about you or your family during the call. If the caller really has your daughter, for example, he probably knows her name. If he knows her name he will use it to make the threat more real. Don’t inadvertently help him by saying her name or anything else that would help him.

Remember, this is a scam that has no borders. If it can happen in south Texas or rural northern California, it can happen anywhere. Scammers are taking a shot in the dark, hoping to find someone who happens to have a daughter (or whoever the caller claims to have). Above all, stay calm.

 

Teresa Ambord is a former accountant and Enrolled Agent with the IRS. Now she writes full time from her home, mostly for business, and about family when the inspiration strikes.

Meet Teresa