Kidnapped or Arrested Emergency Phone Call
Dean Thompson
Experienced PE & VC exec with 3 exits leading sales, customer success, professional services, sales engineering & customer support organizations.
You have probably heard the stories of people being scammed when they get an urgent call claiming there is an issue with their grandson, grand daughter, nephew, niece, heck their own child that requires the grandparent to take immediate action to help them. This is commonly referred to as the kidnapped or arrested emergency phone call. The scammer claims to have one of your loved ones and play out the scenario that they have been arrested or kidnapped. I'll unpack each variation under the assumption its your grandson, what to look for and what to do to avoid it. Please, please, please, share and discuss this with your Mom, Dad, Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts & Uncles.
Let's start with the arrested use case. The grandparent either gets an email, text or phone call. In the case of a call, the caller usually calls late at night or early in the morning and claims to be from law enforcement or a lawyer and your grandson has been arrested and they need money for bail, fines or legal costs. They will tell you to keep quiet and to not tell anyone. There is a version of this where the grandchild talks first and then hands it to the "officer" but it's done so fast the grandparent can't be sure if it was their grandchild or not. They will create a sense of urgency that you act quickly to wire money. Some even get bold enough to get you to buy gift cards that they activate or get you to buy bitcoin through an ATM to send to them.
Flags for you:
What should you do?
领英推荐
If you do get scammed, the FBI asks you to do the following:
Today the best way to protect your loved ones is with education. Please make a point to meet with the family and setup your safe word as well as educate them on this scam so the money they worked so hard for stays with them!