WATCH ABOVE: California family receives terrifying phone call claiming a family member is being held hostage and will only be released in exchange for money. Serene Branson has the story.
One California family was on the receiving end of a terrifying phone call recently, with the caller claiming he was holding the family’s brother hostage.
The mother and 17-year-old daughter who were the victims of the phone scam didn’t want to be named, but said to CBS2 News they received a phone call from an unknown caller who claimed to have the mother’s brother hostage. The caller also said he would only let the man go if they wired him money.
“I wanna talk to my brother,” said the mother to the caller.
When the unknown man refused to let her do so, he threatened to injury her brother more.
“He said he hit my brother over the head with a gun,” said the woman to CBS2 News.
The alleged scammer also asked for money to be transferred to him.
“He lowered the price. He went to $5,000 then he went to $2,000, meanwhile I’m asking, ‘Let me talk to my brother,’” the mother said.
There has been a rise in these phone call scams and Officer Jack Richter with the Los Angeles Police Department is warning families about the potential risk.
“Keep in my mind they’re very good at it,” he said to CBS2, “They’ll make a thousand phone calls [and] out of that thousand phone calls, they may get one or two people.”
Luckily, the family never transferred any funds to the unknown caller and were able to get into contact with the mom’s brother.
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