scammers be scamming

I woke up around 4:30 this morning and right as I got out of bed Peppy's phone got an incoming call from his dad. His dad and stepmom are currently in Germany visiting her family, so getting a call before 5 am here (it was 11 am there) immediately made us think there might have been an accident.

Peppy answered the phone and we could hear a voice in the background saying, "Hello? Hello?" Peppy replied back but the person couldn't hear him. The caller hung up and called back. "Hello......Hello?"

"Hello?"

A voice with a thick Jamaican accent said, "I have Brian and I'm going to kill them all."

"What?" 

"You heard me. I have your dad and I am going to kill him. I'm just trying to make it home and I need $600."

"Who do you have?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID. I SAID I HAVE YOUR FATHER."

By this point the red flags were flying left and right. Gage watches enough scam videos (where the scammers get scammed) that aside from common sense, he's taught me the plethora of angles that scammers try to scam you. Plus, I can spot a liar from a mile away. Something came over me and I took the phone from Peppy.

"No you don't."

"What?! You don't care that I'm going to kill your father?"

"Let me talk to Brian."

"Brian. Get over here." Theres a muffled sound in the background. "Talk to them, Brian." Silence. "He won't speak. I said TALK TO THEM." Silence. "Stop fighting me Brian."

"Where are you?"

"You know where the f*ck we are."

OK, my father-in-law would 100% not fight a criminal and he would 100% play along with whatever the criminal wanted. I knew he wasn't fighting. He would be cooperating completely. Plus, if the guy only wanted $600, Brian could have given him that. Also, if you wanted to verify that you really are going to murder my in-laws, couldn't you at least confirm you're in Germany? 

Peppy said something about calling the police and the guy hung up, but then he called back a minute later.

"Don't you care that I'm about to kill them all? Because I am. I'm going to f*cking kill them."

I said, "No you aren't. You're a liar." Then he hung up on us again.

We tried calling my father-in-law back and there was no answer. We called my mother-in-law, there was no answer. Peppy called his stepsister, no answer. He messaged them all on WhatsApp, still no answer. I told him that maybe they didn't have service, or maybe they were having lunch and didn't have their phones. But my FIL is glued to his phone, so it was slightly odd that we couldn't get ahold of anyone. And while logically Peppy knew it was a scam, he was a little concerned that we couldn't reach anyone. 

An hour later we finally heard back from Sigi. She had spotty service and Brian was out playing golf. 

I can only imagine how many older people do fall for scams like this. The guy did legitimately sound like an angry, aggressive, adrenaline filled man. So his acting was on point. I prayed for the guy. I hope the Lord pricks his heart and convicts him and it tears him apart inside when he thinks about the trauma and financial loss his scam calls have caused people. 

It is kind of crazy that they can hack into your devices and make it seem like they are calling from someone's phone. It is so easy to imagine how someone might be emotionally manipulated in a situation like this.