It’s a frightening phone call no parent wants to get. The person on the line tells them their child has been kidnapped, and the only way to get them back is to pay up.
It’s sounds like a Hollywood movie, however Lexington Police said it’s a scam happening right here in Kentucky.
Police said in the last two days, they have been informed about three kidnapping cases. Thankfully, each case turned out to be a fake. However, police want the public to be on alert for this scam.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
LEX 18 spoke with one of the victims. The man said he was called at work and the suspect claimed he kidnapped the victim’s daughter and even went as far as having a young girl cry in the background. After that, the suspect told the victim the girl would be killed if the family didn’t comply.
In all three situations the victims have been doctors, however police said once the scam goes public, the callers could change their targets.
Police said if anyone gets one of these calls they should try to get as much information as they can. People should not set up any plans with the criminals, and instead try to keep calm and let them know you will comply. After that investigators said it is vital to call police.
“Don’t call other people, don’t call other family, don’t call other friends call the police. We will be able to help you with the situation, sorted out, and get to the bottom of it and when we get involved in the situation and we can work through all of the steps to ensure, is the child okay and where is the child? These are situations where we can’t have a lag between the time that you find out about the proposed threat or possible threat and then you call us, we need to know right away,” said Sherelle Roberts with the Lexington Police Department.
