The Odessa Police Department would like to warn people that criminals are pretending to be kidnappers and demanding ransom.
According to an OPD news release, officers responded to two separate banks Tuesday in reference to possible robberies, but soon discovered that citizens had gone to the banks because they’d received calls from people claiming to have kidnapped a family member and demanded ransom money in exchange for their release.
OPD said they’ve received several similar reports in recent days and if people should receive a call from a purported kidnapper, not to pay anything and not to provide them any personal information.
The call may appear to come from a loved one’s phone, but they should hang up and call that loved one immediately, OPD stated.
The police would also like victims to call authorities immediately and provide them with the caller’s phone number and any names associated with the call.
“It is also recommended that to prevent these types of scam calls, people should make their social media accounts private and revisit information that may be public on social media accounts,” the release stated.
