Red Bank police have issued an alert warning of a virtual kidnapping scam that targets the Latino community.

From a Friday post on the RBPD Facebook page:

Recently, our department has received several reports from residents who have received phone calls in which the person on the phone tells them that a family member has been kidnapped and then demands that they send money from a money transfer store to someone in Mexico.

After the money has been sent, it turns out that no one in the resident’s family was kidnapped.

Please be aware that this type of scam is recently very common and please contact the police if you receive one of these types of calls.

In recent years, FBI offices around the United States have issued similar warnings.

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