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Family pays $1,300 ransom in fake virtual kidnapping

The Freeman family's ordeal began with a phone call.

A stranger told them their 21-year-old daughter Kiauna Freeman was kidnapped. They demanded $1,300 ransom.

“Oh, Jesus. I was terrified,” Coretta Freeman said. “Every other sentence they would say, ‘Don't call police. Whatever you do don't call police. Don't hang up the phone.’”

Kiauna Freeman was safe at college the entire time, but had been virtually kidnapped, a new kind of crime.

A caller armed with information about her family phoned Kiauna Freeman out of the blue, threatening to kill her 15-year-old brother unless she immediately wired $450.

She paid up, all while ordered to stay on the line.

Then, the suspect called her parents and claimed to have Kiauna Freeman.

“She said to me, ‘Dad I don't know how I got into this. I don't know why it's me but dad do as they say,’” Kiauna’s father Thirkel Freeman said.

(Click to WATCH the Freemans talk about the ransom call)

The FBI in 2015 began investigating virtual kidnappings, an extortion scheme where con artists phone victims and convince them they have kidnapped a relative who's never actually abducted.

They learn it's a hoax and their loved ones are safe only after wiring ransom money.

“The extortion subjects are very successful. So they end up getting a lot of money out of this. And that's the reason they are continuing,” FBI supervisory special agent Timothy Ferguson said.

The most common incidents involves victimizing family of U.S. tourists in Mexico.

Fraudsters often get information from a lost or stolen wallet, or social media

The FBI recorded 33 cases last year and 38 cases the year before.

“It is almost impossible for us to recover the funds after the victims of the extortion have wired the money,” Ferguson said.

The Freemans stayed on the line for hours and wired the $1,300.

Then the suspect asked for more.

After praying, and taking a chance, the Freemans hung up and quickly realized their daughter was never in any danger, and never actually kidnapped.

“I don't wish this upon anyone on this planet,” Thirkel Freeman said.

“And I was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and this was more terrifying than that,” Coretta Freeman said.

With scammers often overseas and equipped with sophisticated technology, the FBI said it has yet to see a successful prosecution to help the growing number of victims.

The FBI said virtual kidnappings make up a small fraction of all reported kidnappings each year.