TAMPA, Fla. — The Hernando County Sheriff's Office is warning residents of a telephone scam with what sounds like a child kidnapped which was reported Friday.
At around 1:30 p.m., the father of a Hernando County school student got a phone call from a number with a Mexico area code.
According to the sheriff's office, the call started with a small child crying, "Dad, they have me." The father immediately said the child's name to ask if they were alright.
This is when the man who called told the father "they had his child." Deputies say during the call, a small child could be heard screaming in the background.
"I have your child," the caller reportedly told the father. "How much money do you have to see the child alive?"
Deputies say the caller didn't demand a specific amount of money and only asked how much the father had. Eventually, as the father continued to speak with the man, the call was disconnected.
After the call, the father contact the school resource deputy at his child's school to make sure they were safe.
"The child was in fact safe and engaged in school activities," the sheriff's office said in a news release. "This appears to be a scam."
With this possible scam in mind, the sheriff's office is warning parents who receive this type of call to not give their child's name, personal information or banking information.