There doesn't seem to be a day that passes that you don't hear about a new scam doing the rounds or experience one for yourself - but some are more horrendous and heartless than others.
One woman felt the need to share her horrific ordeal with social media users to warn others to not believe the scam, which she almost fell for.
Beth Royce, who posts on TikTok as @bethroyce, warned others to "watch out for this scam" as she recalled the incident to her social media followers, explaining that her eyes were red because she'd been crying thanks to the scammer.
She captioned the video: "I feel the need to tell everyone I know about this. Literally the scariest moment of my entire life."
Bethany explained that she woke up to a call from her sister at 7.20am, from her contact, with her face that popped up on the screen - so she had no reason to believe that it wasn't her sister calling.
When she answered a man's voice was "screaming" at her, telling her "not to call anyone else", including the police, claiming that he had her sister hostage.
Beth said it sounded "so real", claiming that she never falls for scams - but she said that this was the "realest, scariest moment of her entire life."
She described the man as sounding "completely unhinged" and "crazy", and she described how she could hear "muffled sobs in the background that sounded like a woman's voice", so she obviously thought it was her sister.
Beth explained that she spoke to the man on the phone for 15 minutes, and she tried to talk him down, and ended up sending him money.
The man claimed that he needed to get home and he just got out of jail so needed money to get home, saying he "wasn't a bad person."
She said the situation still gave her "chills", especially when she heard a "sob" in the background and the man said that the woman needed to "calm down" otherwise she was going to hurt herself.
Beth admitted that she did tell her mum, who was luckily in the house at the same time as she received the call and told her quietly to call the police. She admitted she was "terrified" that he was going to kill her sister.
Her mum then called her other daughter's number, the one who was allegedly being held hostage, and she picked up the phone and the pair were relieved.
Beth said: "This was really really scary. Like, it felt so real that I'm not kidding I'm traumatised and worried about PTSD."
She said that it's recommended if you receive a phone call like this, hang up and call the person back immediately because "it'll call your actual contact."
In the comments, people were horrified that someone could scam another human being in such a way.
One wrote: "I still can't believe human beings can put other human beings through this kind of fear and turmoil. The lack of empathy is shocking. I'm so sorry."
Another explained how her mum scammed the scammers, commenting: "This happened to my mum. They said they had her daughter. She said 'not Betty!' and they said 'yes, Betty', and she said 'ha, I don't have a kid named Betty'."
"Our family has a code word. If there is a real emergency we all say the word. It confirms it's real and not a joke. We started this during the 80s", a TikToker shared.
A police call handler said: "I am a 911 operator and this happens to people all the time. People send THOUSANDS of dollars before they realise. I always feel so bad for them."
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