So Aunt 1 (A1) and Aunt 2 (A2) work together at the same place. A1 gets a call from a random number saying they have her kid kidnapped and demand a ransom of $10,000. They say not to hang up the phone and send them the money via money transfer ASAP and they will let him go. She runs screaming to A2, and they drive to the bank (scammers still on phone). Oh, and scammer said he had people watching them.
A few facts/issues about this situation. I am the youngest "child" of my parents/aunts/uncles and am in my late 20s. A1's kids are like late 30s - early 40s. She reacted because she was thinking of her grand kids who are teenagers.
Luckily, I am finishing up a business lunch at a restaurant next to the bank and my lovely aunt almost runs me over as I am walking to my car. A2 explains everything to me. I am immediately suspicious and call my cousin and then the police. My cousin's kids don't pick up. My cousin contacts his neighbor who checks his house. Kids are at home, they were taking a nap. Police taking down as much info as possible. Then we just hung up once we knew everyone was safe. I blocked the number on her phone.
The next day I sat down my mother and A1 and A2. I had to explain to them how if anyone gets a call like this, it is likely a scam because their kids are all adults and to try and think things through a bit more without getting immediately scared. Also not to tell them necessarily where you are or where you are going. Maybe even exaggerate a bit and say, "I am going to X.", when you are going to Y and see the reaction. We also got lucky in that while A1's phone was occupied, A2 had her phone and I was there as well. Still unsure how they got her number. Police said there are multiple ways for that and most of these calls and threats seem to originate in South America, Mexico, India, and Central America (where the money ends up).
Submitted April 20, 2017 at 10:20AM by partlyfulltime http://ift.tt/2oqknaz
