WESTFIELD – City police advise that no ransoms should be paid without verifying that a loved one has really been kidnapped.
A caller advised city police Monday afternoon that a $1,000 ransom had been demanded by a caller who claimed to have kidnapped his brother.
Officer Kerry Paton reports that he spoke with a Charles Street resident who said that when he had asked to speak with his brother the putative kidnapper told him that he couldn’t because his brother was bleeding.
The resident said that he was told to send the money by Western Union to a named person in Puerto Rico and said he went to a local supermarket to send the money. But, after he purchased the money order, he called his brother who said that he was alive and well and at work.
Paton reports that the man said that he was able to recover his money but declined to make a formal report of the incident.
Det. Lt. David Ragazzini said the scam is a variation on similar themes such as “your loved one has been terribly injured in an accident and needs money for treatment” or “your loved one has been arrested in a foreign country and needs money to be get out of jail.”
“First and foremost” Ragazzini said, residents should attempt to contact the loved one reported to be in danger. They should also contact police with information about any attempts at fraud or demands for ransom.
He said that, in an actual kidnapping case, the decision to pay or not pay a ransom demand would be made on a case-by-case basis.
