WINTERS, Calif. — The Winters Police Department is investigating possible spoofing and a kidnapping hoax after a phone call Thursday.
Police say they received a call about a kidnapping around noon, but it was ultimately unfounded.
The person who reported it to police said his wife had left their home to go to Taco Bell when he got a call from her phone number saying she’d been involved in an accident and she had been taken because the person who hit her had illegal drugs and guns.
The caller told the man they already harmed his wife and would kill her if he didn’t meet them to deliver money.
The man told them he was not in the area and was headed to Vacaville. The man then went to the fire department and asked them for help.
Police responded and Winters police issued a BOLO for the woman’s license plate, along with an emergency ‘ping’ of her cell phone. Her vehicle was found at their home and officers found her there unharmed.
Police believe the woman’s cell phone number was ‘spoofed’ in an attempt to extort money from the man they called.
Anyone with information can call Det. Thomas Letterman at 530-795-2261.
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