Minnesota Forum

The victim received a phone call from what appeared to be his wife's phone. The phone number and contact photo belonged to her. The victim answered the phone and heard his wife's voice on the other end. He said his wife sounded frantic and said she had been kidnapped. He then spoke to an unknown male who said he had kidnapped her and demanded financial payment for her release. The victim sent $500 to a Zelle account. Shortly after the male said his account was overdrawn, and the victim needed to send an additional $210 to the account to get the account to a $0 balance. Shortly after sending the funds, the victim received a three-way text from his wife and daughter. He made contact with her and realized she was not in danger. He also reported the incident to his bank fraud department.