A new scam where a caller claims that a loved one has been kidnapped is circulating around the Western Pennsylvania area.
“The number that showed up on the caller ID was twelve digits so the thought is it’s either an international number or it’s a spoofed number through the internet,” Lt. Sean Frank of the Shaler Township Police Department told our newsroom.
Shaler Police have been investigating an incident last week where a woman received a call from someone claiming to be her daughter who is attending school in a different state. A man then came on the line and demanded money to release the daughter. After reporting the incident to police, the woman was able to make contact with her daughter and determine she had not been kidnapped.
According to Frank, area residents can take a couple actions to deal with this scam.
“Our advice is to ask a question or two that would be something specific that only you and the person they’re calling about would know,” Frank said. “Definitely call 911 and report this to your local police department so they can take action and try to identify these actors.”
The Kittanning Barracks of the State Police have issued a scam alert dealing with this particular kind of incident and Frank said the Pittsburgh Police have also had several reports of calls like this.