Megan Vargo was going about her regular weekday schedule, getting her toddler in the stroller she pushes as she does her daily jog. Then, her phone lit up as it rang with an "unknown" caller ID.
The Scottsdale native and Simi Valley, California, resident received the chilling call on her Phoenix area code number. The man on the phone told Vargo, 41, that her 60-something-year-old mother was injured in a car crash at a Phoenix intersection, she said.
"The woman screaming in the background sounded identical to my mom," Vargo said, remembering having thought, "She sounds just like her. She's been hurt."
Vargo was left shuddering in fear over what the caller told her, which she said law enforcement informed her was part of a virtual kidnapping scam.
Cartel boss gave deadly ultimatum
Vargo said she was told by the man on the phone that her mother, who lives in a Phoenix suburb, was fine and he was looking after her by his vehicle as the two waited for an ambulance.
The caller sounded credible, Vargo said, because he mentioned a business on Via Linda in Scottsdale that she knew her parents frequented. He went on to ask Vargo to help calm her mother, and she in turn asked to be on speakerphone to say a prayer.
The call quickly turned sinister.
Within three minutes of the call's start, the man told Vargo the situation with her mother was "delicate," she recalled. He claimed he had 5 kilograms of cocaine in the unregistered Range Rover he was driving and such a discovery by police could not be risked, Vargo said.
Suddenly, she said, he went from Good Samaritan to kidnapper when he started to demand she pay a $5,000 ransom for her mother's safe return.
The man, who identified himself as Carlos, warned Vargo that his cartel boss gave the ultimatum of paying up or they would "put a bag over (her mother's) head and handle it the old-fashioned way," Vargo said.
"Carlos" went on to give her instructions to wire the ransom loot through Western Union.
In a panic, a barefoot Vargo ran out of her house with one arm toting her young child and her free hand clutching the phone with the extortionist on the other end.
Just as she began hyperventilating, Vargo spotted a familiar face, her next-door neighbor, to whom she explained the crisis she was suddenly facing. Her neighbor — described by Vargo as a shrewd, older woman — calmly grabbed the phone, assured her there was no kidnapping and proceeded to disconnect the call.
Influx of similar scams struck Arizona
Simi Valley Police Sgt. Rick Morton confirmed a woman's neighbor called the department about an attempted extortion. Morton said this sort of scam has been seen before in Simi Valley, which is located some 42 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
There have been multiple instances where a caller will request money for the safe return of the victim's child while a young person's distressed voice is heard in the background, Morton said. None of these have turned out to be actual kidnappings, though, he added.
In April 2018, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office issued a warning about virtual kidnapping scams and described similar scenarios to what Vargo experienced.
There were 1,092 extortion victims in 2019 in Arizona, according to a December 2020 press release from the FBI's Phoenix Division. There was an influx of virtual kidnapping scams in the state at the time with calls often originating from Mexico and families sending thousands of dollars before law enforcement could intervene, according to FBI Phoenix.
"Sometimes a female can be heard crying or screaming in the background of the call. No one is physically kidnapped in these extortion schemes, but they are often traumatic for everyone involved," read the press release. The scheme "often tricks victims over the phone into paying a ransom to free a loved one they believe is being threatened with violence or death when in fact the virtual kidnappers have not actually kidnapped anyone."
Law enforcement should always be contacted immediately, the press release said. Extortion scheme indicators included calls from outside the area code, callers going to "great lengths" to keep the victim on the phone and ransom money only accepted through wire service, according to the press release. If an extortionist calls, avoid sharing personal information, ask for "proof of life," for the kidnapped victim to call back from their phone and do not agree to a ransom payout, the press release added.
Victim wants to 'spread the word'
Vargo eventually FaceTimed her mother whereupon she was able to confirm her safety at work.
A college-educated woman, Vargo remains rattled by how she nearly fell for a scam she recognizes carried many red flags. But she wants to share her ordeal to stave off further victimization.
"You need to make sure your friends know about this scam, because even if you're embarrassed, Megan, just make sure you spread the word," Vargo said her mother told her.
Vargo said she has learned some of her friends in Southern California also received similar virtual kidnapping calls. She does think the caller targeted her under the impression she was in the Phoenix area due to her phone number and that he referenced Via Linda.
"I had nightmares that night only because he was so violent," she said. "This man was so palpably angry. It's wild to think it was just all a front."
Have a news tip? Contact The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com at newstips@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Caller claimed to hold woman's mother for ransom. Was it real?
