LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A family from Lawrenceville was defrauded out of several hundred dollars after believing their daughter had been abducted.
The father reached out to the Gwinnett County Police Department on Feb. 21 after receiving a text message from an unknown number stating his 18-year-old daughter had been snatched.
The texts demanded $15,000 for her safe return, asking for an initial payment of $440. The dad sent it, but then the amount of money wanted kept changing.
The police got in touch with the FBI, and they discovered the teen was last seen leaving her apartment that day at approximately 1:30 p.m. This was before her father received the first message.
On Feb. 23, an undercover officer spotted the teen walking down the same street on which her apartment is located. She has since been reunited with her father.
During an interview with the teen, detectives learned more about how the bad actors were almost able to pull off their scam.
The teen said she received a call from an unknown number, claiming to be from the Mexican government. The caller accused her of using her phone to make death threats to Mexican authorities.
The girl denied the allegations, so the caller allegedly convinced her the phone was hacked and told her she and her family would likely be targeted next.
The caller asked the teen to provide information about her family and the login details to her text messaging app. They even asked her to send pictures of herself looking sad to "make her investigation reach a higher priority." They then instructed her to switch her phone to Airplane Mode.
The girl reportedly did all of this, giving the callers the ammunition they needed to convince her family that she really had been abducted.
When she felt she was no longer safe in her own apartment, the teen told police she decided to camp out alone at a nearby lake. She remained there for two days until her phone was about to die. It turned out the undercover officer spotted her on her way to find a charger.
Local authorities believe the suspects are in Mexico, but their identities are still unknown.
"Cases like these are not limited to just these incidents in Gwinnett County. We urge you to educate yourselves about these crimes and share your knowledge with your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers," a spokesperson from the Gwinnett County Police Department said. "Start a conversation, talk about this case. Develop a plan if you or someone you know receives a suspicious phone call, text message, or email. When in doubt, discontinue the conversation and verify the facts yourself. And never give out your or your family’s personal information."
If something similar has happened to you, or you know anything else about this case, you're encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta at 404-577-8477. For helpful information regarding cryptocurrency scams, visit FTC Consumer Advice.