Over the past few years, one particularly scary scam has popped up in Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey and other states.
Now, the “hostage scam” has surfaced in Louisiana, too.
Elderly residents are receiving phone calls telling them that a relative is being held hostage. Then, the scammers demand a ransom for their release.
The relatives aren’t actually being held hostage – but the scam is effective because, in the panic of the moment, many victims eagerly wire the ransom to the scammer.
More details, from NOLA.com:
The recipient of the call is told that a relative is being held hostage and will not be released until money is either wired via Western Union or a “Green Dot” card is obtained from a local retail outlet and turned over to the caller, the Sheriff’s Office said in its new release. Green Dot cards are financial instruments that can be pre-loaded with funds, which are retrievable by anyone who has been given the code imprinted on the card.
The calls typically come from overseas, as is the case in many phone scams.
Last year, a U.S. Senator called for the FBI to help stop the scams.
Photo by Doug via Flickr CC License
