A man said that he got a disturbing phone call where someone demanded money in exchange for the safe return of his daughter.
It is a new phone scam that terrified one Jessamine County father.
Police call this scam a virtual kidnapping.
On the phone, he heard a little girl screaming in the background as a man with a Hispanic accent demanded money.
Shawn Mickschl said that for 30 seconds, he was convinced his daughter had been kidnapped.
He said that sort of call hits you in the deepest parts of who you are.
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The caller couldn’t answer a personal question about the little girl though, so Mickschl hung up, raced to his daughter’s school and found her safe.
Once he realized it was a scam, he knew he had to spread the word.
“We live in such a culture of fear, when something like that happens it just taps in to where we’re at,” said Mickschl. “And so we need to find ways to overcome that fear.”
Police told LEX 18 that one of the things that makes these kinds of scams possible is the amount of personal information we put on the internet.
To avoid becoming a victim of this scam and others like it, the FBI says look for these possible signs:
-International Numbers
-Calls not coming from the victim’s phone
-Callers who go to great lengths to keep you on the phone
-Ransom money is only accepted via wire transfer service
If someone is demanding payment of a ransom for a kidnapped victim, the FBI says:
-Try to slow down the situation and request to speak to victim directly
-Ask them to describe the victim
-Attempt to call, text, or contact victim via social media and ask the victim to call back from cell phone
-Don’t directly argue with or challenge the caller
Nicholasville PD recommends monitoring the information you put online, specifically on social media.
If you are the victim of the scam, please call the police.
The Attorney General’s Office is also asking that if you receive a call like this, please report it to the Office of Attorney General Consumer Protection hotline at 888-432-9257.
