Watsonville Residents Fall Victim To Virtual Kidnapping Scheme

WATSONVILLE, CA — The Watsonville Police Department is warning the public about an ongoing virtual kidnapping scheme that a few residents have already fallen victim to. According to police, three reported "virtual kidnappings" have taken place this month alone in Watsonville. Police believe that the extortion scheme, which has been around for decades, is run out of prisons in Mexico.

The virtual kidnapping scheme usually begins when criminals make a large amount of cold calls to random numbers from the same area code, officers said. Police said that suspects will play prerecorded audio of a woman's scream in hopes the caller will respond emotionally and believe it's a family member.

When a specific family member is narrowed down, the suspect claims they will torture or harm the caller's loved one if they don't wire them money, police said. The criminal will insist the caller stays on the phone while they wire the money in an attempt to keep them from verifying with the loved one whether they are being held captive.

Officers said that once the money transfer is complete, the suspect hangs up, never to be heard from again. This is often the time the victim finds out that their loved one was never really abducted. Some of these scams have contacts in the area where the victim is located and a physical money drop is demanded, according to police. The amount demanded is usually under $2,000 because of legal restrictions for wiring money across the border.

In Watsonville, two victims were on their way to transfer money when they flagged down officers and one victim did transfer the money only to find out that her family member was not in anyone's custody, police said.

Police said indicators one may be the victim of this scam are the following: callers going to great lengths to keep someone on the line, calls do not come from a loved one's telephone number, callers try to prevent someone from contacting that loved one, and callers demanding ransom money be wired to Mexico.

Police suggest that if any of these indicators match up with a received call, people hang up, do not name any loved ones, ask to speak to the loved one specifically if a name does come up, ask questions only a loved
one would know the answer to, listen carefully to the alleged loved one's voice, attempt to contact the loved one from another phone, and do not deliver any money.

Anyone who suspects a real kidnapping is taking place or believes a ransom demand is a scheme should contact their local law enforcement, police said.

By Bay City News

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