Victim of virtual kidnapping gives insight and tips on what scammers are doing
It's a parents worst nightmare: your child being kidnapped. You would do absolutely anything to get them home safe and scammers know this all too well.
It's called virtual kidnapping and it's a scheme that tricks victims into paying money to free a loved one, in whom they believe is held hostage. But virtual kidnappers don’t actually kidnap anyone but they still create the same threats, in order to get a ransom.
47 ABC sat down with a Al Ament, who was a victim and also happens to be a former Delaware State police officer but now he hopes this can be a way to stop others from being another victim on the list.
"It was quote on quote I have your son and I want to tell you why I have your son."
Ament says the scammer had a foreign accent calling from a Delaware area code.
"We already worked over your son and his friend and the next step is if you do not cooperate with us is, we are going to kill both of them. We're going to kill them," Ament tells us.
With doubt still in his mind, he asked for proof. An impersonator, who sounded like his son, got on the line.
Unlike many others, Ament did not give in.
"He said I want 40,000 dollars and I scream on phone and said $40,000? But he quickly responded saying I meant $4,000. I guess depending on the reaction that they get from you, they'll negotiate on where this will go."
But unfortunately, this isn't the case for others, who hand over stacks of cash falling victim of this scheme.
He recommends that you shouldn't stay on the phone because these perpetrators may gather even more information.
Some other tips:
- If you happen to stay on the line, ask questions that the alleged kidnap victim would know, such as the name of a pet
- But beyond that, avoid sharing information about you and your family
- Try to contact the alleged victim
- Regardless of a real kidnapping or not, the first course of action should be to immediately contact your local law enforcement
If you believe you’ve been a victim of virtual kidnapping, you are encouraged to send information over to Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.
