WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — You might do just about anything to keep your family and loved ones safe, and unfortunately, scammers are counting on that.
Police are warning of a new phone scam where scammers claim they're holding a loved one hostage, and the only way you'll see them again is if you wire them money.
Officers say a woman from Winter Haven received a phone call from an international number on Sept. 19. The man calling told the woman her daughter had been in a car crash and needed her daughter's information verified.
When she gave the man the information, that's when the tone of the call "changed drastically." He demanded the woman go to Western Union and wire $1,000 immediately because her daughter was "being held hostage by the Mexican cartel." He gave her instructions to send money to a listing in Mexico.
The woman quickly made her way to a Western Union while the man stayed on the phone, threatening that if she hung up, she'd never hear from her daughter again. The woman sent $350, but the man demanded more, reiterating his claim to harm her daughter. The woman told police she heard what sounded like a woman screaming "mommy help!" in the background.
After sending all the money she had left, the man hung up.
The woman then immediately called her daughter's cell phone, only to find her daughter was safe and with her husband in Orlando.
Relieved that her daughter was in fact safe, she asked Western Union if the money transfer could be stopped. Unfortunately, it couldn't.
"This type of coercion is unthinkable," said Public Safety Director and Police Chief Charlie Bird. "And the worst part is it is extremely difficult to trace these types of scams and bring people to justice."
Police warn that these types of tactics are used to put people "in a position of total fear." If you do get this type of call, officers say, "as hard as it may seem," hang up and call law enforcement immediately and give them the caller's phone number and any names associated with the call.
