EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is getting involved after receiving reports from multiple people saying they got text messages from a phone number that claimed they were hired to assassinate the receiver.
According to a Facebook post from the sheriff's office, two scams making the rounds are highlighted for people to be aware of. First, the post says "a couple of residents" have reported getting text messages from the same phone number. The texter mentions the victim by name and claims to have been hired to "assassinate" the victim. The person behind the threatening messages allegedly goes into detail and says the victim can pay to "spare their lives."
The second reported phone scam in the same Facebook post involves a fictional kidnapping. The victims, a couple in a relationship, were each called at the same time by different suspects who were working together.
The suspects told the victims their child had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom in order to get the child back. The suspects used information given by one parent to use towards the other. By acting like the suspects already knew the information they got from one victim they were able to convince the other victim that the situation was real.
Deputies ask the public to never send funds to people you don't know.
"If you receive a scamming phone call, you can report it to your local authorities, the FTC or the IRS," the sheriff's office said in the psot. "If you believe someone has been abducted or kidnapped, call 911!"
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