Harris says that a few families from different parts of the school district received calls from scammers telling them that they had kidnapped their children. “They were trying to get them to release sensitive information and use it as a way to fork up money for a ransom,” she says.
The FBI calls it a “virtual kidnapping,” It typically involves callers who call victims and demand a wire transfer of money for the return of a supposedly abducted family member or friend. Sometimes they represent themselves as a members of a drug cartel or a corrupt law enforcement officials to instill fear, panic and urgency. The approach is calculated to overwhelm their victims’ reason so they’ll make a hasty decision.The approach is calculated to overwhelm their victims’ reason.
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The FBI claims virtual extortion schemes were on the rise in 2014, but back then the scammers targeted dentists, general practitioners and other health specialists. Now, three years later, they’re targeting parents of DISD students.
Harris says DISD initially received information about a virtual kidnapping scam targeting a family in a Southlake school district a few weeks ago. Several other families contacted their campuses on Friday to report similar fake kidnapping calls. These incidents prompted DISD to alert families that scammers may be targeting them.
The FBI reports to avoid becoming a victim of a fake kidnapping scam pay attention to incoming calls from an outside area code, and keep in mind that fake kidnappers won’t call from the kidnapped victim’s phone, and they’ll do their best to keep you on the phone to prevent you from calling or locating the “kidnapped” victim.
Harris from DISD asks parents to call police if they receive a phone call from a fake kidnapper demanding a ransom and to contact their child’s school.
