COLLEYVILLE, Texas — Scammers taking advantage of people really bothers Colleyville Sergeant Dara Nelson. Her police department is warning people about its two most reported scams. One is an old scam with some new twists that also appears to be making a comeback across the country.
"They're either going to be kidnapper scams or grandparent scams," Nelson said. "They're typically targeting the elderly or somebody who would be in a frantic situation. So, they're calling and they're addressing the person as either a mom or grandma or something familiar like that."
After a recent kidnapping scam, people on the Nextdoor app are thanking the Colleyville Police Department. Officers quickly responded to a complaint from a woman whose "daughter" called saying she had been kidnapped in Mexico while on vacation.
The victim said the phone called seemed real. She reported that the caller sounded just like her daughter, and a male voice on the phone seemed to have enough information to demand money to have her daughter released from captivity.
"They had all of the right details to make the victim believe that the caller was their daughter in Mexico, and they called from most likely a spoofed phone number from Mexico," said Nelson.
The victim said she received the call while at work at a Colleyville dental office. The incident immediately sent her on an emotional rollercoaster. Fortunately, she had a lot of support from her coworkers.
Police warn these scams may seem real because of the current travel advisory in Mexico with warnings for homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robberies. The recent murders and shootings of Americans in Mexico can also make the scams appear real.
In the Colleyville incident, police launched an investigation and contacted the FBI for assistance. When law enforcement initially tried to reach the daughter by telephone in Mexico, they did not get an answer.
"The recent kidnappings that have happened in Mexico, we didn't want to wait around to find out whether or not it was real before contacting federal partners," said Nelson.
Nelson said the scammers in this case used the victim's daughter's social media, prompting the department to warn people against posting while on vacation.
Colleyville Police Department Chief Michael Miller tells resident to not share personal information scammers can use, like names and credit card numbers. Miller says to never send money and always call the police.
Trained investigators can help pull the covers off scammers' money scheme.
"Scammers will definitely encourage or threaten you to not call the police or even they might even say that they're police," said Nelson.