Wrangell police are investigating a fraudulent call to a resident stating that their child was abducted in the community. The call came in at 9:00 a.m. today.
The parent went directly to her child’s school, and administrators confirmed that the student was in attendance and unharmed.
Police Chief Gene Meek said she did exactly what she was supposed to do.
“The parent did the right thing and didn’t supply any money, went straight to where their child should be,” he said. “Had it not been a school day, it may have been a bad day for that parent, because how do you find your child? Hopefully you call them, but if you’re under stress, you usually don’t think clearly.”
The Wrangell Police Department sent out a statement to the community that the phone call was “very realistic to the victim and the suspects were demanding money.” Other similar scams have been documented across the country, and police believe the caller originated from outside of Wrangell.
Meek said if anyone gets a similar phone call, it’s important not to do what the caller is asking and inform the police as soon as possible.
“There’s always these demands that are made to cause this stressful situation where people do not think rationally because they’re put under intense stress,” he said. “If you find yourself in that situation, that’s when you have to stop and think to yourself, ‘Why am I acting now?’”
Some of these demands could sound like financial extortion, the need to act immediately and threatening harm.
Meek said these calls usually sound believable and are purposefully designed to prevent the victim from thinking rationally due to their intensity.
“If a child had been abducted, we have ways and means of quickly identifying someone’s location,” he said. “But we have to have that exigency.”
Additionally, Meek said you can call your local bank to identify if it’s a fraudulent case, since banks are well-versed in current fraud trends. But still contact the police department so they’re in the loop.
