‘Horrific’ kidnap scam leaves US mom shaken

Scammers have become more sophisticated in mining social media sites for names of targets’ family members and demanding instantaneous delivery of ransom money through mobile peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo, the AARP reported. — Dreamstime/TNS

“If you don’t pay me US$10,000 (RM41,755), I’m going to cut up your son and make you listen to him scream.”

Sharon Oldehoff said she’s still haunted by the “horrific” phone call she received two weeks ago from a man who said he had kidnapped her adult son.