I have been warning you about phony kidnapping scams for four years, but recently there has been a resurgence of this particular around the country.
The scam starts with a telephone call informing the person answering the phone that a child or other relative has been kidnapped and if they do not respond by wiring money right away, the relative will be killed.  As with so many scams, we are often our own worst enemy and this scam is no exception.  In many instances, the scammers gather personal information about the intended scam victims from information that the intended victims  or members of their families post on social media.  Information harvested from social media may indicate that someone is traveling on vacation making it easier to make the phony kidnapping appear legitimate.
Armed with  personal information gathered from social media, a scammer can describe the supposed kidnapped victim or provide personal information that would make it appear that indeed they actually do have the person in their custody. Commonly the ransom demanded is between $600 and $1,900 according to the FBI, however in a recent kidnapping scam in New York a ransom of $10,000 was paid.
TIPS
Always be skeptical if you receive such a call.  Never wire money to anyone for anything unless you are totally convinced that what you are doing is legitimate because unlike paying for something with a credit card, once your wired funds have been sent, they are impossible to get back.  Talk to the alleged kidnapper as long as possible, thereby giving someone else with you the time to call  or text the alleged kidnap victim on his or her smartphone.   If the purported kidnapping victim is a young child, call the school to confirm that he or she is safe.   You also could ask the kidnapper to describe your relative as well as provide information, such as his or her birth date, which could be found on a driver’s license, however, it is important to remember that much of this kind of information may be available through social media or elsewhere on the Internet.
Many of these kidnapping scams are originating in Puerto Rico or Mexico so be particularly skeptical if you receive the telephone call from Puerto Rico area codes 787, 939 or 856.  Also be wary of calls from Mexico where the area codes which are quite numerous, but can be found by clicking on this link.  http://dialcode.org/North_America/Mexico/