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Frostburg Student, Others, Fall Victim To Extortion Scam

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A warning from police about a scam that's been targeting families nationally, now hits home in Maryland.

While this isn't a new scam, police say it appears to be growing aggressively in popularity. It's a scam designed to pray on people's worst fears: harm to a loved one unless you pay up.

It starts with a phone call-- the caller on the other end, with a chilling message for the unsuspecting victim.
They give a warning that a loved one has been kidnapped and will be killed unless a heavy ransom is paid. It's a scam police say families across the nation have fallen victim to.

Two of the most recent cases happening in Maryland, at UM College Park and Frostburg State University.

"Parents of a football player notified the police they had not seen their son since breakfast, and he had not reported to the football game and they were afraid he had been abducted,"  said Liz Medcalf, Frostburg State University.

As it turns out, the reason he missed the game, was because he was wiring money to the scammer after being told his father would be killed.

At the same time, his parents were be given the same warning about their son.

"They keep them on the phone and they can be very convincing," said Medcalf.

Police expert Doug Ward tells WJZ, the information con artists use to target victims could be a simple click away -- some found right on social media sites.

"People can do some quick searches of various sites and find out a lot more than you think people can about you," said Ward.

One expert tells WJZ, one thing you should definitely not do if you receive a phone call like this, is hang up."

"You need to calm down the situation, slow it down. You have to delay a little bit to be able try and text or call the individual," said Ward.

Some families have reported losing up to $2,000 in this scam. Police some other things to look for with these calls out of state or country area codes.

Police say the calls can vary; one man tells WJZ he also received a call like this saying his grandson was in jail and in need of bail money.

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