Brazil mother dies after phone kidnapping scam

A con artist phoned a Brazilian mother to demand a ransom to free her kidnapped son and the panicked 67-year-old retiree died.

A con artist phoned a Brazilian mother to demand a ransom to free her kidnapped son and the panicked 67-year-old retiree died of a heart attack before she realized she was a victim of a scam, local media reported on Thursday.

Mercia Mendes de Barros sent her husband to fetch 60,000 reais ($28,708) and asked neighbors for help negotiating with the faux kidnapper.

But her husband told reporters Mercia died before he returned from the bank and a neighbor successfully contacted her son -- who never was taken hostage -- on his cell phone.

"I had heard of this scam, put panic takes over when you get the call," Mercia's husband, Jose Pereira de Barros, told the Estado De S. Paulo newspaper. "We were attacked and assassinated in our own house -- by phone."

Criminal gangs in Brazil spend hours every day calling people at home.

Preying on widespread fears of real kidnappings, the con artists tell unsuspecting victims they have kidnapped their loved ones and will kill them unless ransoms are paid.

Frustrated police run advertisements on local radio stations warning people of the scam.