Two disturbing phone scams have popped up on the FTC’s radar. Both scams have one thing in common: they want to trick (and scare) you out of money. If you live on Staten Island, pay close attention, since these two scams seem to be targeting people in your area. But we know that scammers don’t often stick with one area, so they could expand their target area any time now.
Phone scam extorting parents
This scam starts with someone texting you a picture of your own child — that they could’ve grabbed off of the internet, like your public social media account. Sometimes, these scammers also
send frightening pictures, like images of dismembered bodies. In either case, the messages come with the threat that the scammer knows where you live and will kill your family if you don’t pay them. If you get a call like this, report it to your local police right away, before you do anything else.