A North Bay mother is warning about a new phone scam that targets parents.

This scam threatens to kill their child if they do not pay up.

The scary twist with this one is the parent hears a screaming child in the background.

KRON4’s Justine Waldman spoke with a mother who just got the frightening call and started to give in to the scammer’s demands.

It is a story you will only see on KRON4.

“You are going to do exactly as I say, or I am going to kill your son,” the scammer said on the call.

It was a terrifying phone call for Shannon Basquan.

It came from a 52 number on her cell phone while at work in San Rafael on Wednesday afternoon.

At first, she heard screaming on the phone and thought it was her 13-year-old son.

“Help me! I have been kidnapped! Please help me, mom! Please help me. This is for real,” the phone call said.

The caller claimed to have kidnapped her child, and he was going to kill him unless she gave him money. Because she says she would do anything for her son,  she went straight to the bank.

“All I was thinking was my kid is hogged tied in the back and where are we going to meet,” Basquan said.

The man on the phone told her not to call the police, but to put a smile on her face and go get as much cash as she could.

She couldn’t text anyone while on the line because of her phone’s settings. This is something she has now changed.

While at the bank, a security guard noticed she looked panicked and helped her call her child’s school, which confirmed he was OK.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office wants potential victims of this scam to stay calm before taking any action.  

“Demand proof and determine this person actually has your child,” Basquan said.

Shannon never wired over any money.

And when the fake kidnappers called her back looking for the cash, she hung up.

Now, she wants other parents to know about this scam, so no one else falls victim

“These things do happen, and you just can’t take your chances when it comes to your kids,” Basquan said.

The sheriff’s office also tells KRON4 as this scam makes the rounds in the Bay Area, if you get a call from an international number you don’t know, do not pick it up.

WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:

>>MORE STORIES