Your brother has been kidnapped!

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Your brother has been kidnapped!

Opinions

Friday, 05 October 2012 11:26

ALICEA_Camille Camille Alicea
Kissimmee Police Dept.

On May 8, 2012, I received a call from a well spoken Hispanic male claiming that my brother was involved in a very serious situation.

The call came from a 787 area code number and the Hispanic male caller said that he was just the messenger and that his goal was to help me help my brother. The male went on to state the following: My brother was in a crash with a motorcycle causing the motorcyclist to fall down. My brother then ran over the motorcyclist with his vehicle and fled the scene. A group of witnesses followed my brother and down street stopped his vehicle. My brother threw a punch at one of them and a physical altercation started. The witnesses battered my brother and threw him in a van. My brother was transported to “the projects” and was kept in an unknown apartment against his will seriously injured. The Hispanic male proceeded to say that all the compensation the victim’s family wanted was money to replace the motorcycle, about $1,000.
The Hispanic male paused and allowed me to speak. I first asked him for my brother’s name. He was not able to provide it. I also asked him for the location of the crash and the whereabouts of my brother’s vehicle. Finally, I asked about the hospital where the alleged victim was taken to. The Hispanic male was unable to answer any of my questions. I advised the caller that he was speaking with a Law Enforcement officer and that if anyone was holding my brother against his will, they were committing a crime and I was going to get the police involved. The Hispanic male terminated the conversation.
I called my mother and asked her about my brother. She confirmed that my brother was OK at home sleeping. After I made sure my brother was OK, I called the number back and got no answer. A few minutes later I got a text stating “ok, they are going to kill him and that’s it. Use the money for your brother’s funeral”. I also received a text stating “because under the condition he is, he is not going to give the number of someone that can’t help him because he knows he is not going to make out alive” when I inquired if he had my brother. Later, he sent me another text stating for me to forget it because my brother was already dead.
Although I was able to identify this was a fraudulent call, I will have to say that at one point I was in fear for my brother’s life. The Hispanic male was very convincing and hardly gave any time for me to organize my thoughts and make sense of what I was hearing. That is how they get you.
The phone numbers being used by these con artists are not traceable. They play with your emotions and even negotiate with the ransom money taking a lower amount of money than the original amount. They might ask you to purchase pre-pay credit cards or calling cards and instruct you to provide the card numbers and security numbers over the phone. Once you provide this information, they have your money and there is no way you can get it back.
If you receive a call like this one, don’t panic and ask a lot questions. It worked for me. Listen and try to identify inconsistencies in what they are telling you. Use another phone or person to call your love ones and check on them. Do not give them what they want, contact your local Law Enforcement Agency and report the incident.
Sgt. Camille Alicea is with the Kissimmee Police Department.