Harassment calls lead to a law enforcement response at KFDI

February 23, 2012|By Dan Dillon | KFDI

(WICHITA, Kan.) — A telephone solicitation led to several law enforcement officers with high-powered weapons around the Journal Broadcast Group building in north Wichita. The solicitation was the beginning of an elaborate scam.

On February 14^th, a telephone caller with a foreign accent called a Journal Broadcast Group employee to say he owed $400. The Journal employee refused to pay, but the calls continued.

On Wednesday of this week the Journal employee told the caller to stop the harassing phone calls or he would contact police in his hometown of Valley Center. Sedgwick County Sheriff Lt. Brad Hoch says, “The man called Valley Center Police this morning and impersonated the Journal employee. He told the dispatcher he had just killed his wife and son and was planning to shoot people at KFDI where he worked.”

The Valley Center dispatcher notified Wichita-Sedgwick County 911 who called KFDI to verify the employee was in the building. Thinking there could be an armed man in the building, patrol cars from the Sedgwick County Sheriff, Wichita Police and Valley Center Police lined up along Old Lawrence Road, north and south of the Journal Broadcast Group building. Lt. Hoch says “The call solicited a high tactical response.” Officers had earlier driven to the employee’s home in Valley Center.

After speaking with the employee, Lt. Hoch says “The law enforcement officers quickly realized this was a hoax or a scam.” The employee explained how he had been receiving the harassing phone calls since last week, sometimes as often as 30 a day. He let them see the number displayed on his cell and listen to one of the voice mails left by the caller.

In one instance, the Journal employee’s phone displayed a call from Valley Center Police, when it actually was the man with the foreign accent on the line. The Valley Center Police dispatcher says when the man called at 9:30 this morning, the number on the caller ID was the Journal employee’s cell number.

Lt. Hoch says “We have since found out there are apps you can put on your phone to mask a particular phone number. We believe there’s a good chance this phone call originated from outside the United States. We just don’t know at this point.” Hoch said the number they were given is “undetectable”, and can’t be traced back to a location. Hoch says “These people were relentless in trying to solicit money from this employee.”

Hoch says people should not hesitate to call the local authorities and make a report when they receive harassing calls. He recommends an FBI website called the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The address is www.IC3.gov.

Eyewitness News is news partners with KFDI.

|

|

|