'If You Hang Up, She Dies': Terrifying Scam Call To Del Ray Mom

ALEXANDRIA, VA—What would you think if you answered the phone to hear a child crying that she's been kidnapped and a stranger demanding a ransom for her life. That was the scam call a Del Ray business owner and mom is warning residents about.

Bellies & Babies owner Dawn Luepke wrote in a Facebook post that she received the call that appeared to be coming from Mexico on Tuesday. When she answered, a girl cried "Mommy I have been kidnapped," and a man got on the line and demanded a ransom for her life. The scammer said she had 30 minutes to get him the money or he would kill the girl.

"So the first thing that I thought of was -- ‘Where is my daughter?'" Luepke told Fox5DC.

What really terrified Luepke is that the scammer knew and kept repeating her name. He told Luepke to stay on the line and drive to the bank. By this time, Luepke had her phone on speaker so the Bellies & Babies staff would hear.

She got an intern to call 911. "They asked if she called her daughter and I am like how is she supposed to call her daughter when she is on the phone with this guy," Angelic Britton, the intern told Fox5DC. “Then they didn’t say anything after that and that is when I went to her and she told me to hang up to start recording the guy on the phone."

The worried mother was able to stall and use the store's line to call her fourth-grade daughter's school to confirm she was OK. And she was safe in school.

Luepke reported the incident to Alexandria Police and the FBI afterward. But she worries about the child used in the scam call. "I'm sad for the girl this sociopath used to call me crying," she wrote in the Facebook post.

Police told Fox5DC residents they can file a police report and request officers to check on their loved ones in this kind of scenario.

Victims of the call should also report it to the FBI. If you receive this type of call, the agency urges residents to follow the following tips.

• In most cases, the best action is to hang up the phone.
• Don’t call out your loved one’s name.
• Request to speak to your family member directly. Ask, “How do I know my loved one is okay?”
• Ask questions only the alleged kidnap victim would know, such as the name of a pet. Avoid sharing information about yourself or your family.
• Listen carefully to the voice of the supposed kidnapping victim.
• Attempt to contact the alleged victim via phone, text, or social media, and request that they call back from their cell phone.
• To buy time, repeat the caller’s request and tell them you are writing down the demand, or tell the caller you need time to get things moving.
• Don’t agree to pay a ransom, by wire or in person. Delivering money in person can be dangerous.

Image via Shutterstock