Two Bay Area agencies have issued warnings to the public this week about telephone scams, one of which is relatively familiar and another that includes a demand to pay a kidnapping ransom.
San Francisco police issued a warning about a string of phone scams in the category of “caller-ID spoofing,” in which the phone number displayed looks like it is coming from the Police Department. The caller asks either for donations or cites an outstanding warrant the recipient of the call needs to pay off immediately.
The scam warning from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office described a twist on the familiar approach.
Deputies there had a recent in-person encounter with a man who said he was on the phone with someone who claimed to have kidnapped his daughter. The caller demanded that the man remain on the phone — preventing him from checking on his daughter — and wire $6,000 to Mexico in exchange for the safe return for his daughter.
The man told deputies that the caller demanded he stay on the phone while carrying out the caller’s additional demands to drive to a Walmart to complete the wire transfer. The man then drove off to the store.
A news release from the sheriff’s office said deputies Lisa Bender and Erik Stavert were able to thwart the fraud, with some assistance from the San Leandro Police Department.
Deputies headed to the Walmart and notified dispatch, which sent units to the home of the daughter — the alleged kidnap victim — and confirmed she was safe and at home.
Deputies reached the concerned father — who was still on the line with the unknown caller who had demanded the ransom — at the store before any funds could be transferred.
When deputies attempted to communicate on the phone with the suspect, the caller disconnected the line.
Such scams happen more frequently than the public realizes, according to the sheriff’s office, which encourages anyone who receives such a call to contact their local law enforcement agency for help.
13 comments
I occasionally get the “Hello Grandpa” calls. It is usually someone who claims to have been in an accident and arrested because the other person lied. He needs bail money. Since I have no grandchildren I mess with them. I say you sound different. He says he sounds funny because he has stitches in his lips or mouth. I’ll say no that’s not it; what happened to your Southern accent. Or serves you right for drinking and driving.
haha good one.
I often ask why they chose this life of crime. A quick slam of the phone is their answer..
@Doh…what happened to your Southern accent, now that is funny….!
I tell them I don’t talk to men with small pen*ses. That gets rid of Shorty every time. Click!
If the caller doesn’t know your name it’s a scam or spam.
How absolutely terrifying
When I worked in Concord, there was a telemarketing call-center in my building. One of their telemarketers once called asking for donations for some Police Association. When I said “no, thank you,” he asked why. When I laughed, he hollered that he was going to arrest me for all my MF parking tickets.
Contra Costa Times did a multi-part expose on their antics, and they shut down. I assume they reopened somewhere else with a new name.
Best thing to do, don’t answer the phone if you don’t recognize the phone number. If it’s important they’ll leave a message. Scammers robocall multiple numbers and talk to the person that picks up. If it rolls to voicemail it’ll automatically hang up.
My husband’s widowed uncle (75 yrs) was just taken for $93,000.00 cash….insane. Befriended online and then the “my father needs heart surgery” so he sent the money……
if family hadn’t found out at that point he had also sent pic of front and back of credit card in which that would have been racked up as well. Got his soc sec # from him…..the works. The fam hadn’t noticed dementia prior but now they see it. Was catfished, google matched pic to a porn star.
I got malware on my iphone a bit different than this topic of the serious ransom scare they are sending out as recordings on your phones. Still.. this malware , did pose a threat of stealing all my information, photos and contacts and more. It happened last night and all night my iphone was making weird alarm noises and lighting up my screen. Yipes, so I called Apple Care this morning as soon as they opened up and they cleared it out right away. All these other services cost money like Norton etc. So Apple Care got it out. I would turn over the ransom kidnappers to authorities immediately. Apple told me to not click on suggested places on the web.
I’m getting really upset with a Nigerian Prince who has been promising me for years that he was going to share $20 Million bank account with him if I only sent him $1,000. I guess he needed the money to help investigate the stolen money from a local bank in Lagos. I’ve been sending these monthly payments in good faith for about 12 years. I’m beginning to think our friendship maybe not real. SERIOUSLY, why do people answer their phones when the # is not in their phone bank or showing up as a # they do not recognize. IF ITS IMPORTANT, THEY LEAVE A MESSAGE.
Have an old school whistle by your phone. Take a deep breath blow as hard as you can. That will cause the caller a bit of well deserved pain for a few seconds,
I have a boat airborne for phone scammers.
I also have a close up pic of a dog’s starfish, that I will send out to email or text scammers.
Good times…….
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