Telaphone Scam, be carefull

Some info on a new Scam..... Dave

Telephone kidnapping scam now includes Orange CountyPuerto Rican residents targeted
A telephone kidnapping scam run by inmates calling Puerto Rican residents of Central Florida has spread to Orange County where "an obscene number of calls" have been received in recent weeks, according to the sheriff's office.

First reported in Osceola County this month, at least 14 Orange County residents have had conversations with men calling from Puerto Rico area codes and demanding ransom for relatives kidnapped there," sheriff's spokeswoman Cpl. Susan Soto said Tuesday.

"We have no confirmed cases where anybody has been kidnapped," Soto said. "We're told they're prisoners calling from Puerto Rico."

So far, three Orange County residents have been duped by the scam. Each of those victims sent as much as several thousand dollars by Western Union to an undisclosed address in Puerto Rico. In two of the three cases, the anonymous callers kept the victims on the telephone until they received notice the money had arrived, Soto said.

The exact number of reported calls in Orange County was not available Tuesday but Soto said it was well in excess of 100.

It is unknown how the victims' telephone numbers are selected.

In an interview last week, Puerto Rico police Sgt. Hilda Rivera said inmates apparently have been using pre-paid cell phones smuggled into the prison system. The scam first targeted people living in Puerto Rico before spreading to the mainland, she said.

"Unfortunately, there is little we can do to stop them," she said. "In Puerto Rico, you can't trace prepaid phones, and most of the transactions are done in cash."

None of the scammers have any personal information about the people they claim to be holding in Puerto Rico, according to the sheriff's office. Detectives advise anyone receiving a ransom demand to say nothing about any of their relatives on the island, write down the caller's telephone number if possible and then call 911.

One of potential victim was at the point of sending money when she remembered watching TV coverage about the scam and realized the call was part of the scam, Soto said.