A Morenci woman contacted Safford police on Monday, March 9, 2020 to report that she had been scammed out of $1000 by an anonymous caller from an international number. The woman was in Safford when she received the call. She said that the caller told her that he had a gun to her daughter’s head and if she didn’t do exactly as she was told, her daughter would die. The woman then heard a female voice on the phone that said that she was scared, and they had a gun to her head. The woman said that the voice sounded a lot like her daughter and the situation was believable.
Following the instructions from the caller, the woman transferred $1,000 dollars to a location in Mexico. The woman said that she was forced to stay on the line with the caller while she completed the transaction through Western Union. She received a tracking number, which she relayed to the caller. The man then told her to go back to where she came from. She stayed on the line with the caller until she lost the call while driving through the black hills area. She tried to call the number back when she regained service, but the number would not accept international calls.
She then became suspicious that the call was fraudulent and called her daughter. Her daughter answered and said that she was at work and everything was fine. She was apparently unaware of the call her mother had received.
The woman turned the information over to authorities but there currently no leads in the case.
