Pueblo police warn of cartel kidnapping phone scam

Pueblo police are making the community aware of a phone call scam in which the scammer pretends to have kidnapped a victim’s loved one and demands a payment to secure their release.

In the scam, a man calls from the phone number 719-220-9177, says he is associated with “the cartel,” and has one of the victim’s family members, usually a woman, according to a Pueblo Police Department post on the social media website X.

Police say the caller will claim the victim’s family member owes the cartel money and request a cash payment to release the person being held. Later in the conversation, the caller instead asks for a money order.