17 June, 2013
The Hopkinton Police Department is issuing a public service advisory regarding a popular phone extortion scam that continues to victimize members of this community. In these cases generally an unknown person(s) will call or text the victim and make claims that a family member is under arrest or being held captive and needs money to be sent for their release. The caller may know basic information about the family member. If you are contacted by a party alleging they have a family member in custody it may help to:
• Ask the caller specifics about where the family member is located.
• Have the caller physically describe the family member to see if the caller can provide some level of detail that could help confirm or dispel the claim.
• After gathering as many details as possible during the call the resident should attempt to make contact with the person that is allegedly being held captive and confirm safety.
• If a text is received the resident should first make contact with the person that is allegedly being held captive to ensure that they are safe and if they are unable to make contact then they should probe the individual texting to provide specifics, as mentioned above.
• In all cases note the phone number where the call or text originated and report the incident to the Hopkinton Police Department.
