Telephone scams occur every single day but it seems as though they become more prevalent around the holidays.  In fact, my dad received an interesting call over the weekend.

My dad called me a little before 1:00 on Saturday to let me know they had arrived to pick me up from Miller Auto.  He then told me he had to go because someone named Ricky was after him.  I was a bit bewildered but I disconnected and went about my business.

When I got out to the car, he and my mom were looking at something on the internet so I finally asked who Ricky was.  My dad proceeded to tell me he had received a phone call from a man who asked him if he had a son or brother who drove.  My oldest brother drives and had gone to Fargo to help a friend move, so my dad said yes.

The man asked for my brother's name and when told it was Paul, you could hear someone in the background saying, "it's him."   The man goes on to tell my dad that my brother hit the back of his brother's BMW and my brother tried to call the police. However, they don't want the police involved because his brother is a fugitive so they took his phone and they're now holding him hostage.  They want $1,800.00 for ransom.

My dad figured out pretty quickly this was a scam, but my mom did check to make sure my brother was okay.  Once that was squared away my dad decided to play along for a bit.  He told the "kidnappers" that he had the money in his pocket and asked how he should get it to him.  It played out like a movie for the the few minutes they were on the phone.

I'm not sure what was said but whatever it was, it made the "kidnappers" angry.  He told my dad that he made a big mistake and yelled to someone in the room, "Ricky, go get the van! We have to meet somebody."

To a point, this is funny but it's also something people should be aware of.  Most of us are but these people target folks who aren't as informed and sometimes, they do get the money.  My dad did inform the police of this and should you get a call, you should do the same.  It's probably not going to catch the people responsible but at least authorities know  the types of scams that are out there.

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