New Jersey family targeted by disturbing phone scam
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. - A New Jersey family was targeted by con artists who allegedly tricked a mother into thinking they had kidnapped her 17-year-old son in an effort to get the woman to pay a ransom, reports CBS New York.
The mother and son told their story to CBS New York, but declined to be identified.
According to the station, the con artists first called the 17-year-old son and claimed they were holding the boy's father hostage.
"They said that if I couldn't give them the $3,000, they were going to blow his head off," the teen told the station.
The teen frantically told the con artists to call his mother.
When the con artists contacted the mother - of Morris Plains - they reportedly told her they had her 17-year-old son and if she wanted to see him again, she needed to wire $3,000 to Florida and Puerto Rico.
"They said if they didn't get money, they were going to kill my son," she told the station.
While the scam artists turned their attention to the mom, they also made sure to lure the 17-year-old boy to a local park so that he would remain out of sight, according to the station. They told the teen not to answer any incoming calls or texts and not to hang up on them.
"They said, 'Just go somewhere where you can sit or be just be, like, out of sight," the 17-year-old told the station.
The scammers reportedly had the teen tell them exactly what he was wearing and they then recounted that description to the mother.
The family eventually called police. Police found the 17-year-old safe at the park and the mother was relieved to learn the kidnapping was a hoax.
According to CBS New York, police don't know whether the scam artists got the 17-year-old's phone number from the Internet or whether they just called it randomly.
"They scrambled the phone numbers, so weren't able to get a trace on it," said Morris Township police Detective Sgt. Brian Holick.
No arrests have been made and the family is understandably left shaken.