Another Scam Caller Claims to Hold Woman's Husband Hostage

A new phone scam seems to have hit the area.

Newton Police have responded to two incidents in the last week where callers have contacted women and demanded money for their husbands, who are reportedly being held hostage by the caller.

On Saturday, March 9, Newton Police responded to a home after a woman reported a suspicious phone call she had received around 11 a.m. that day. According to reports, the caller claimed the woman's husband was injured in an accident that also involved the caller. 

The caller told the woman he was holding her husband captive until she wired money to pay for damages from the accident, reports said. The caller also claimed he would kill the woman's husband if she did not comply. 

A similar incident was reported to Newton Police on March 4 after . During that scam, the woman stayed on the line with the caller for five hours while she wired money to Puerto Rico.

Newton Police Lt. Bruce Apotheker told Newton Patch this week that this particular scam seems to be a "new angle" that has hit Newton.

Apotheker reminded the public to call police if they receive any kind of suspicious call.

"If anyone gets a call like this, contact police right away," Apotheker said.

As for the most recent incident on March 9, reports said the woman suspected it was a scam. When the caller instructed the woman to get a money transfer through Western Union, the woman said she needed more time. 

The caller then gave the woman a number and told her to call back. When she did, she got a generic voicemail message, reports said.

Recently, Apotheker said the "grandson scheme" is one of the more common phone scams to hit the area. This involves scam callers contacting senior citizens and claiming that their grandson or granddaughter was involved in an accident or arrested in a foreign country. The caller then asks the senior citizen to wire money to help the grandchild.

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