South Plainfield Police Warn Of 'Virtual Kidnappings'

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ - South Plainfield police say that in the past week, they've taken reports from two separate people who've gotten a phone call that a family member was kidnapped. The two people each received phone calls from Hispanic males who report they have kidnapped a family member and will hold them hostage until a ransom is paid, police said.

The instructions are usually given to the caller to go to Western Union or MoneyGram and to wire the money to a specific person. The person is usually located in Puerto Rico.

What's particularly disturbing is the scammers will stalk victims' social network profile and locate a family member's name/info. The scammers then call the victims and state there is a medical emergency and/or they have kidnapped their loved one, referring to them by name and thus lending more credibility to the threat.

The scams this week have originated from numbers: 347-326-4930, 973-901-8427, 908-327-3445. Keep in mind with apps, these numbers can be changed very easily, police said.

Step #1 is to verify your loved one is OK; try calling them, call the police and we will check on them. If your loved one is in another jurisdiction, we will notify that agency, police said. Don't give them any money and call the police.