Aurora police are alerting the community to a scam that has been played out multiple times in recent days that revolves around people receiving ransom demands for family members that have supposedly been injured in accidents.

Aurora police have answered several calls in the past week and so far have not learned of anyone giving into the demands and losing any money.

Although there have been variations reported to Aurora Police, the attempted scams generally begin when a phone call is received and the caller does not identify themselves. They go on to tell whoever answers the phone that one of their family members, who they call by name, has been involved in an accident and he or she is being held hostage. They then demand money or the family member will be killed. The telephone numbers from which the calls are supposedly being placed are mostly local area codes. Some of the calls have come from scammers fluent in Spanish.

Aurora Police say the targets of these calls become upset mostly because family members are mentioned by name and that the calls seem to be placed locally. However, they remind citizens that the detailed information is easily accessible via the Internet or social media and specialized devices can spoof caller IDs to indicate local calls.

They say anyone receiving similar calls can verify the well being of their family member by calling or texting their cell phone.

Anyone who receives such calls, whether in Aurora or any part of Kane County, are urged to contact local police.

SOURCE: city of Aurora press release

Crime Prevention Tips

SOURCE: New York City Department of Community Affairs

Should you receive a call demanding that you wire money for a ransom, bail or medical expenses for a relative involved in a car accident, you should:

• Ask the caller their name and who they represent.
• Never supply personal information to the caller.
• Ask the caller for a number where you can call them back.
• Never send money to someone you don’t know, especially if they initiated contact with you.
• Hang up the phone.
• Remove personal phone numbers or information from social-media profile pages.
• Call your police department to report the incident.
• Be sure to share this information and discuss this crime with your friends and family members.