A terrifying phone call to a Coquitlam's man's mother in another country has Mounties warning the public about a potential new trend in online scams.
On the afternoon of Jan. 7, according to Coquitlam RCMP, police responded to a report that someone had been kidnapped and beaten.
The mother of the alleged victim, who lives in Taiwan, received a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped her 25-year-old son, a Coquitlam resident, and demanded a ransom.
Police said the woman heard what sounded like someone being beaten in the background and shouting, "Send money." The worried mom immediately contacted family members in Taiwan and Coquitlam to ask for help, and a local resident contacted the Mounties.
But officers located the "victim" - who was safe and had never been kidnapped.
"Because everyone involved acted so quickly and did the right thing by contacting the police, with the help of the Taiwanese authorities, we were able to alert the... family to let them know he was, in fact, safe and the kidnapping was a hoax before any ransom money was paid," said Cpl. Jamie Chung.
He added that although this call turned out to be a scam police take such calls seriously and that, should anyone else receive a similar call, they should also contact police immediately.
Chung said there was no indication the caller knew the family, and that such scammers often use an urgent tone of voice with just enough vaguely personal information to convince the target the scam is real.
"Apparently, this kind of scam is not uncommon in Taiwan," Chung added. "We believe the caller may have been calling from Taiwan to the mother so it is outside of our jurisdiction. We're just so glad the kidnapping never happened."
Police offered several tips to help a similar incident from happening to others: maintain regular contact with your loved ones; provide your family with contact information of the places you frequent, such as work, school and close friends; call the police immediately if you get a call from a kidnapper; and safeguard your personal information from scammers, who often research the background of their potential victims.
@spayneTC
