Virtual Kidnapping Scam Targets Parents of College Kids

As if regular kidnappings weren’t terrifying enough, there are some for lack of a better term, assholes out there trying to trick parents into thinking their kids have been kidnapped when they’re perfectly safe, according to an AP article on NBC4i.

The scam often targets parents of college-age kids. According to NBC4i, parents in Arizona, Virginia, and California, have been receiving calls from strangers claiming they have abducted their kid, and they even have special effects in the background with random screams or muffled yelling. Then the “kidnappers” will demand parents to wire them money, therefore tricking the poor parents into paying anything from $600 to almost $2,000.

But it doesn’t stop at just disembodied screams or yelling, according to the article, one pair of parents reported hearing someone who had a similar voice to their daughter pleading the parents to pay the ransom, lest she be killed, according to NBC4i.

This scam is beyond traumatizing, and authorities said in NBC4i’s article that parents simply had to try to contact their child before paying the ransom. Use social media, text, call, or even ask the kidnappers to have the child call you from their cellphone.

Parents, if your college student hasn’t called you in a couple of weeks, send them this article. Guilt-tripping always works.

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