Scams & Bottom Feeders

I was recently the victim of a scam, the effects of which, I am still struggling with. I am working at not be hard on myself for believing the Scammer, who I will now refer to as The Bottom Feeder (only because I try not to use the F-word). All of my guys, my sons, Loving Spouse and even my new favorite Police Officer tell me, that the scam was believable, and that helps. The scam was that My Girl was kidnapped.

I do not usually answer calls when there is “No Caller ID”. However, my dear friend and mentor’s phone often comes up this way and I had just left her a message 30 minutes early. I assumed she was calling me back.

It is not uncommon for My Girl to call me in stressful situations with a high pitched, “Mom, Mom, Mom” Whereby I tell her to take a deep breath and tell me what is going on. When I received this call, I immediately believed it to be My Girl and thought that something was wrong with THE Boyfriend.

My Girl lives in a nice part of a nearby city, this city however, does have a high crime rate and gangs. It is a place to be cautious in.

As I was trying to tell ‘My Girl’ to calm down and breath, a man came on the line saying, that they had her and I would immediately receive another phone call. He hung up and the next call came before I could even understand what was happening. The call was from a Mexican number.

The Bottom Feeder said they would harm her or would I pay? Did I have $50,000. I was defensive and they threatened to cut her finger off. A tad like the movies, but disconcerting nonetheless.

‘No, I can get $5,000 from my credit union.”

“Okay”, said The Bottom Feeder, “do not hang up. Get in your car, get your phone charger, paper and pencil. Honk once when you are in your car. Tell me where you are driving. From now on, I’ll call you ‘Mom’ and you call me ‘Son’.

‘I’m not going to call you Son.  I have two Sons, that I love very much.  I’m not calling you Son.’

“Okay, Mom, call me Bob”

He was rude and crude and he wanted to keep me scared. I was scared and frantically trying to figure out how to get help. I told him that there’s a dead area where calls get dropped, since we’re out in the country. He said, if the call got dropped he’d call back. He harshly pushed me to keep talking to him. “Mom, Mom, where are you now. Tell me where you are Mom” He seemed to know the area, but I surprised myself at how well I could lie to him, frantically trying to buy myself some time. I drove to my BFF’s house, pretended that the call was dropped and ran to her door. Her husband is a Campus Police Officer, so I knew that she could help. Unfortunately, she wasn’t home yet.

The Bottom Feeder called right back. “Where are you Mom!”

‘You know, my credit union will probably only give me $5,000 in a check. I don’t know how much cash they’ll actually give me’

“That’s okay, Mom! Just get to the Credit Union and park your car. Are you there yet, Mom! What street are you on, are you on University yet, where are you. Tell your credit union that you need to buy a car and give you cash.”

On and on, he harassed.

I was driving toward the credit union, but turned toward where Number 2 and Number 4 sons lived, looking for help. Luckily, I saw Number 2 Son walk out of his house. I drove up to him, with my finger over my lips…handed him the note that said My Girl had been kidnapped. He was going to call the police. I said out loud, that I was almost to the credit union, for the benefit of The Bottom Feeder, hoping Number 2 Son would understand why I drove off.

There is truly no way to convey the panic, drama and anxiety I was enduring.

I parked in the credit union. The Bottom Feeder told me to get all the cash I could. He would go back and forth between acting like he was helping me get My Girl back and scaring, pushing me. While I was in the credit union, my phone was to stay on in my purse on speaker, so he’d hear whatever I said. He said that he’d now logged into the Credit Union’s cameras so he’d see whatever I did. I thought, you did not you lying sack of…., you’re not that clever, but it did give me pause.

Inside the credit union, I started writing notes to the teller about what was happening and that I needed help. Let me tell you, his eyes got pretty big! He took the notes to his boss and she started calling the police. The teller came back to get me money. He started to say that I could have $5,000, but I shook my head at him and held up 1 finger. The teller said loudly, that all the cash I could have was $1,000. I also wrote notes asking them to call My Loving Spouse. I was crying off and on, but for the most part I kept trying to think and breath.

Ellensburg’s finest showed up en-mass. They looked good to me. At this point The Bottom Feeder was instructing me exactly how I was to drive and what streets I was to turn on. We believed, that The Bottom Feeder or the like would be in a car attempting to intercept me. I was grateful for My New Favorite Police Officer, who was in my back seat with a very (very) high powered rifle and undercover officers in the car behind us. I didn’t know what was going to happen to My Girl and I was frantic about her.

The Bottom Feeder kept issuing instructions and attempting to keep me afraid. We were eventually instructed to park at a small Mexican market and given wiring instructions to send the money to Mexico. I was also instructed what to say about who I was wiring the money to. My New Favorite Police Officer and I were getting cold sitting in my car and I started to shake. He’d mute my phone and tell me what was happening, and that the Yakima police were pinging My Girl’s phone. This was the first good news I’d had in over an hour and 15 minutes. Then they were with her, she was FINE. She called us and sobbing I ended The Bottom Feeder’s call to take hers.

It was all a scam. As soon as I knew she was okay, I pretty much fell apart. The Police said that I went into shock. I couldn’t stop shaking and crying. It was hard to breathe and I’d hyperventilate, if I talked to My Girl on the phone. My Loving Spouse was there and I cried and cried. The police insisted on calling an ambulance, where I sat for the next half an hour….warming up and calming down. My stomach hurt and it continued to be hard to breathe. The boys were informed that their sister was okay.

The Bottom Feeder’s phone was untraceable. He did not get any money, but he did manage to steal my peace.

The next day we took chocolates to the credit union to thank them. We put most of the money back in the account and we took My Girl and The Boyfriend out to dinner with the rest.

That was a lovely dinner.

I’d like to tell you all is fine, but it seems that it is taking time. My head hurts, I am wary and easily anxious.

Please pray for my peace to return and never, never answer calls unless you know who’s calling. Legitimate callers will leave a message.

My family and my friends have been my rock, and so I know that I’m still blessed.