News

Actions

Authorities warn about new child abduction phone scam

Authorities warn about new child abduction phone scam
Authorities warn about new child abduction phone scam
Posted

RAVENSDALE, WA (KCPQ/CNN) - Things are starting to feel normal again, after a scary phone call Kelly Nelson received last week.

She said the call came from a blocked number, on the other end, a young girl with a faint Hispanic accent was screaming for help.

"When I heard the child screaming, I thought something was happening at (Rebecca Nelson's) her school, like one of those awful shooting phone calls," Nelson said.

A man then got on the phone and said he had abducted her daughter.

“He says to me get your purse and get your keys and get in your car," Nelson said.

She said the man kept hanging up and calling her back with more threats if she didn't pay up. Her husband called 911 which then called the school and confirmed their daughter was safe.

"I don't see why someone would do that, but there a lot of people who are not good people," Nelson said.

King County Sheriff`s investigators said this is one of two fake kidnapping calls just days apart.

Detectives believe the scammers are getting information about potential victims from social media. 

The scammers don't always have their facts straight. For instance, they had Kelly and Rebecca Nelsons’ first names but they used the mother’s maiden name instead of her married name.

“I'm playing this back over and over and over and there were a lot of inconsistencies, there were a lot of consistencies but there were a lot of facts that weren't right," Kelly Nelson said.

Kelly said the entire ordeal just wasn't right.

"I think there's a special place in hell for people like that," she said. 

Copyright 2018 KCPQ via CNN. All rights reserved.