'Kidnapping Scam' Prompts Action By Hingham Family, Police

A Hingham family was temporarily victim to a "kidnapping phone scam" Saturday, after a caller told them a relative had been in a car accident and then kidnapped, a police briefly responded.

"The family became so concerned about their relative's safety that they  went to look for him while another called 9-1-1," HPD said in an electronic alert. "Officers responded to the house and to a place where the allegedly kidnapped relative had been going to.

"On Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 11am, a man received a call on his cell phone.

"The man, who was visiting his family in Hingham, now lives out of state but has a local 617 cell phone number. The caller said the mans brother had been in an accident and he needed help. As a coincidence, the brother had earlier left the house, driving to do errands.

"The caller said he was at the accident scene, there had been a fight, and the caller's cousin had just punched the brother. During the frantic conversation, the caller said the brother had been kidnapped and was now being pistol whipped.

"The caller asked him to verify his brothers name and he did. The caller then said he needed to get money quickly and pay a ransom to have his brother released. 

"The caller demanded the man pay $5,000 to get his brother released but later in the conversation, lowered the price to $2,000. 

"During this extended call, the caller would at times speak with another person nearby in a foreign language. The caller spoke with a heavy accent, possibly Caribbean.

"The caller said the man needed to go to his bank and then to "Stop & Shop" (but did not specify a town) to wire the money. 

"Within 10 minutes, the family and Officers were able to verify the family member was safe. The caller remained on the line while the man drove to the police station where he eventually hung up.   

"The caller ID of the caller appears as a local number (617-459-3412) but appears to be "spoofed" or  rerouted to a local number to appear more genuine. We believe the caller is actually out of the country.   

"As in most scams, the callers may know a first or last name, or even the relationship of your relative simply by doing an Internet and social media search. 

"In this case the family was aware of the 'Grandparent Scam' but not aware of this type of scam. We have had at least one Hingham resident report this type of scam in 2013."