Woman says she lost $1,500 in virtual kidnapping scam

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Scammers are making calls that threaten violence against loved ones to make fast money, according to the FBI.

"I felt trapped I had no choice but to listen to him," Ashley Valadez said. She said she immediately got into her car with her children and listened closely to the instructions after she got a call on her cell phone from a local 708 number. She thought the person on the other end of the call was following her every move.

"I really did. I really, really did," she said. The man on the other line knew her name and her boyfriend's name. He told Valadez that her boyfriend was tied up with a gun to his head.

"I was terrified. I felt trapped," she said. The caller also said that Valadez' boyfriend had struck his nephew with his truck.

"They knew our names. And obviously he has a truck, so it was very believable, acting as they were making him sound tortured and making him scream my name," she said.

The man told Valadez he would shoot her boyfriend in the head if she put him on hold or hung up on him. So she couldn't call police or her boyfriend, who was really safe. The man told Valadez to stay on the phone and drive to the closest Walmart, where she wired $1,500 to Puerto Rico.

"I guess I'm happy that we are all OK. But I'm mad at the same time. Angry that somebody can pull this on me, wasted my whole day, my hard-working money, you know. I got to school fulltime, work two jobs. I just feel like I don't deserve something like this. Makes me really mad," she said.

Valadez is a victim of virtual kidnapping. She filed a police report in Oak Park and called the FBI. Many cases go unreported, but the FBI said its International Violent Crimes Unit has looked into almost 40 cases in the last year.

The FBI office in Chicago said it had reports of similar calls and in New York, the agency issued an alert that the scam was on the rise. More than likely, a kidnapping call is fake, officials said, and victims should call authorities and family members to verify they're OK.

"You have to be aware of these scammers at all time of the day. It's not right that I have to feel like that," Valadez said.

Officials said victims should also make note of the number used to make the call so it can possibly be tracked to catch repeat offenders. Another warning: be careful what you're posting on social media and handing out to online promotions.