(CBS NEWS) NEW YORK -- Law enforcement is warning of a spread of a cruel scam: fake kidnapping. One family encountered this first-hand and explained how it unfolded to CBS News.

Larry Lutes got the phone call while he was at work. He said a man comes on the phone and says, “We got your daughter.”

“She was screaming, ‘Dad -- they’re, they’re taking me in a van,’” Lutes said. “‘I don’t know what they’re going do. Help me!’”

His daughter’s kidnappers demanded $10,000.

“They just said, ‘Don’t talk to anybody. Get in your car and start driving right now,’” Lutes recalled. “He goes, ‘Or I’ll kill your daughter.’”

His 19-year-old daughter, Jenna Lee, had left for college just the night before.

Believing her life was on the line, Lutes went to the bank to get cash, then drove through the night to eight different locations, wiring the money to Mexico as he was directed.

Soon his wife Donna wondered why her husband hadn’t come home -- and the next day discovered the money was missing.

At that point he had taken $10,000 out of the bank and he was nowhere to be found.

“That’s right,” Donna said.

But that was just the start. Now, her phone rang -- this time the callers told Donna they’d kidnapped her husband.

“If I didn’t get them money … they were going put a bullet in his head,” Donna said.

Donna says it was just horrible and made her physically ill.

Like her husband, Donna was also told to wire the cash from different locations. Finally her children contacted the police, who stopped her from wiring any more money with a startling revelation.

“It’s a scam,” Donna said. “I’m like, ‘No, it’s not’ … and they’re like, ‘It’s a scam.’”

The Lutes had been the victims of a fake kidnapping scheme. And they weren’t alone.

NYPD Detective Lt. John Rogan told CBS News that organized crime rings call victims at random, convincing them they’ve kidnapped their loved ones.

“This is a nationwide problem,” Rogan said.

Like her husband, Donna was also told to wire the cash from different locations. Finally her children contacted the police, who stopped her from wiring any more money with a startling revelation.

“It’s a scam,” Donna said. “I’m like, ‘No, it’s not’ … and they’re like, ‘It’s a scam.’”

The Lutes had been the victims of a fake kidnapping scheme. And they weren’t alone.

NYPD Detective Lt. John Rogan told CBS News that organized crime rings call victims at random, convincing them they’ve kidnapped their loved ones.

“This is a nationwide problem,” Rogan said.