DeLand, FL – At least 2 DeLand women have received phone calls recently from an alleged hostage-taker wanting money in return for setting loved ones free.
The DeLand Police Department believes those calls were made by scammers looking for money and are urging people to contact law enforcement if they get a similar type of call.
DeLand PD Sergeant Chris Estes says he’s never heard of a scam like this before and it might catch some people by surprise.
“On 2 occasions this month, people have received phone calls from an unidentified person claiming that a family member has been involved in a traffic crash and is injured and or incapacitated,” Estes added. “The caller then claims to have them held hostage and demands a ransom.”
Both the women who received those phone calls reported it to DeLand PD, but Estes wouldn’t say if they actually gave any money to the scammers.
In one of those cases, a 57-year-old woman told police on Monday that a man she didn’t know called her claiming to be a paramedic and saying that someone had to come identify her husband after he had allegedly run over a 17-year-old on a motorcycle.
The incident report noted that the woman started arguing with the “paramedic” and that he cursed at her after he told her he had her husband in his apartment and wanted money to let him go.
In that incident, the woman’s husband wasn’t a hostage and also wasn’t involved in any accident, according to the report.
In the other case – reported on July 2nd – a 32-year-old woman says she got a call from a man she didn’t know claiming her uncle had just run over the man’s son and that he was going to hold her uncle hostage until he got money to pay his son’s medical bills.
The report notes that the woman asked to speak to her uncle, but the man refused to do that, claiming her uncle was knocked unconscious from the accident.
Estes says the scammers tried to arrange a money transfer with both women during the calls and that 2 detectives are now trying to figure out who’s behind these calls.
“So far, this has been restricted to 2 such occurrences with a similar theme,” Estes said. “Other variations of the scheme could develop. In the meantime, we asked that the community immediately notify their local law enforcement if such a call or other form of communication is received. Do not exchange money.”
Anyone with information can call DeLand PD Detective T. Dekoeyer at 386-626-7429 or C. Jusick at 386-626-7424. Those who want to remain anonymous and possibly qualify for a cash reward can call Crime Stoppers at 888-277-8477.
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