Scammers In NJ Demand Ransom For Supposedly Kidnapped Children

By Robin Culverwell

LINDENWOLD, N.J. (CBS) - A new twist on an old phone scam finds the caller demanding ransom for a reportedly abducted child.

A Camden County mother of a 15-year-old got a text message, then a call that her daughter had been abducted. The caller wanted $1,000 for the child's safe return. The mother called Lindenwold Police:

"School had just gotten out, so we had to track the bus down, find out if the girl had gotten on the bus," says Lindenwold Detective Christopher Sherrer. "It turned out she had gotten on the bus, but we couldn't locate her. She hadn't returned home."

Sherrer says police also picked up the woman's younger daughter from a nearby elementary school as a precaution. After about 30 minutes of looking, they found the teenager safe and sound.

Sherrer says scammers bank on the likelihood that they've shocked you and they sound legitimate:

"And when you wire the money or God forbid you give them your bank account number to transfer the money, then they have all your money at that point."

This scam is very similar to one where a parent or grandparent is awakened in the middle of the night and told a young family member on spring break is in dire need of money.

The moral: never give anyone who calls you any important account information.