Crime & Safety

Woman Describes Terrifying 'Kidnap' Con

Caller claimed to be holding victim's husband for ransom.

A Huntington resident had a terrifying run-in with a con artist, nearly falling victim to a scam that Suffolk police have been warning about for several months. 

Police say people have been tricked into wiring money to scammers claiming to hold a relative hostage over a debt or a dispute. After wiring money to the extortionists to win their relative's release, the victim then discovers that the relative was never in danger.

Just such a caller attempted to con Jennifer Maichin on April 6. Suffolk police confirm her report but say no one has been arrested.

 This is her emailed account of what happened.

"I was in my friend's car with our kids pulling up to (her daughter's) soccer game and I received a phone call from a Spanish guy speaking really quickly saying that my husband 'hit' this guy's brother with his car at a nearby gas station and they got into an altercation because my husband wanted to call the police and the guy he hit was illegal, so he did not want cops involved.

"As a result, the caller and his brother took my husband up to their nearby apartment by force and they were currently holding him at gunpoint. Because my husband hurt his brother and he didn't have insurance, they wanted cash and I needed to bring them $1,000 if I wanted to "save" Rob. (I swear to you I am not making this up). I questioned the man, trying to figure out the reality of the situation. He wouldn't tell me the type of car or my husband's name but when I asked him where the accident was he said 'New York.' I said 'that's not good enough' and then he said 'Huntington.'

"At that point I had to begin to believe it and I whispered to my friend to call my husband's cell phone. My friend looked up at me and said 'he's not answering.' My husband was supposed to be en route to the soccer game so the situation was entirely possible. (especially since he said Huntington. i swear now that it was a good guess.) I then decided that I had to believe this man because there was no evidence not to, and God forbid if I hung up and it was in fact true...

"At this point my kids are hysterical because I was obviously upset and I just yelled 'Get them out of the car!!' to my friend so I could talk to this guy without them hearing the conversation. My other friend and her husband who is one of Rob's best friends pulled up and I threw my friend out of her car and just screamed to Anthony "DRIVE"!! , leaving my friends and my kids freaking out at the soccer field hysterical because they only heard my side of the conversation and they thought my husband was severely hurt in a car accident.

"While I was on the phone (the guy was telling me to get to a local supermarket) Anthony continued to try to reach Rob's cell phone and there was no answer (Rob was supposed to be on his way to the soccer game so he should have been reachable). Because we couldn't reach Rob, I had no choice but to continue to believe this person. He made me stay on the line en route to the supermarket /ATM where I was supposed to meet him with the $1,000 then he would drop Rob off at the hospital.

"He threatened to hurt Rob through the whole call. There was chaos in the background and yelling and sounds of struggle, and every time I tried to question the validity of the call (can I talk to him, what kind of car was he driving), the guy would start screaming that a gun was being held to my husband's face and they had hurt him already and did I really want to question him further... It was horrible.

"In the meantime my friend (who lives across the street from me) had called her husband to go across the street to see if Rob was there and OK. He busted into my house and found Rob in the shower. He didn't even know his phone was ringing. Rob tried to call my cell phone 2x but I didn't answer it because I didn't want to break the connection with this guy (the guy told me that Rob didn't have his cell phone anymore). Rob finally called Anthony and said "what the hell is going on?'

"Anthony gave me the phone and when I confirmed that he was OK, I yelled some obscenities at the guy on the other end of the phone and hung up.

"Needless to say, it was 13 minutes that was super traumatic for my children, myself, our friends and their kids. When the police came to take my statement, they said that this is a new "scam" in our area to extort money.

"I really can't understand how someone has so little regard for others that they would do something like this. Even though everyone is physically fine, we are still shaken and unfortunately have a little less trust in others as a result. My kids have not left Rob's side all day!"


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