Sheriff's office warns about virtual kidnapping scam

Abbey Nutter, The Lebanon Democrat, Tenn.
·2 min read

Mar. 20—The Wilson County Sheriff's Office is warning residents of a scam involving a kidnapped or injured child.

Reports of scammers telling their victims that a child related to them had been severely injured or kidnapped have been received by the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies.

"With all that's been going on here (in Middle Tennessee) recently with missing children and people, it's an intimidation tactic that sometimes these scammers take advantage of," said Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Scott Moore. "As a parent, if you get called by someone saying that your child has been kidnapped or seriously injured, it's very sickening for someone to do that, to take advantage of someone when it involves a family member."

Moore says that the sheriff's office hasn't seen a similar scam for a year or two.

"It's been a while since we came across it," Moore said. "We've had a complaint come through our office. I think there was another local law enforcement agency that had a similar scam complaint."

According to the sheriff's office, some cases have involved scammers placing a small child on the phone to ask for help, which is followed by the scammer asking the victim for their location.

"I couldn't imagine going through the stress that the victim or victims go through in situations like this, because then you think that you've got someone watching you, watching your house," Moore said. "I know the FBI put out a warning not too long ago about these types of scams. They call it virtual kidnapping scams."

In this case, Moore said that the victim wasn't solicited for money. However, he said that in several other scams, the caller will essentially hold the family member ransom with the child in question in order to manipulate the victim into sending money through a wire transfer.

"It's something to remain very vigilant on and to remain aware that these scams are going on," Moore said.

If confronted with a scam call like this, the sheriff's office advises that individuals contact local law enforcement and verify their child's safety through a principal, teacher, school resource officer or another family member.

The sheriff's office told the public on social media that they should not follow links sent to them, nor should they allow their calls to be redirected through the initial caller.