👍

...If he doesn't post the bond (or hire a lawyer etc.), he'll remain in detention, at risk of being shipped to some secret location: look at what happened to that husband and father from Maryland..."

There's a version of this that the police periodically warn about via social media here in NYC, where a grandson etc is in immediate need of cash to get out of jail. Elderly people particularly in the Chinese community are targeted, I assume because their English skills may be limited, especially if they panic, out of concern for their grands. Several do fall for it.

Or perhaps, they were offering you a bounty on your immigrant neighbor. Or your obnoxious brother-in-law. You just need to put up some money when you file the report, as a sign of sincerity. (That will, of course, be returned to you, along with any earned bounty.)
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If this isn't already happening, I suspect it will be.

Likely a scam.

And now I almost ALWAYS let any unknown telephone number
go to voicemail.

99% of those calls never leave a voicemail

IF someone is legitimately calling,
At a minimum they would leave a message

BUT then, just because they leave a message
DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE LEGITIMATE EITHER.

The whole world WANTS to steal your money it seems nowadays,
Or scam you for products and/or services you DO NOT WANT

OK, come arrest me then.

Guaranteed they don't even know you name, address, or the name of whoever relative they supposedly detained. It can be fun to mess with them to waste their time but best to just hang up.

The caller ID said "probably fraud." Like I'm going to answer that.
Also, this was on our landline, not my cell.
Edit: Just did an online search. Apparently this has been going on
for a while now. I got several a few years ago saying that a package
addressed to me had intercepted at the border and to call a number
they provided. Anyway here's a link to the actual agency describing
the scam.

https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-warns-against-phone-scams

I got one yesterday and another today that were wild. Threats of imprisonment and loss of driving privileges if I didn't click the link and pay the $3.27 charge right now.

I always report spam and delete but this one was unsettling. It was designed to frighten people.

The call can have the same number as your Nextdoor neighbor or even your phone number. The system doesn't care.

number of an accountant I had used several years earlier!

Kidding

It sounds like a scam. These guys have impersonated the IRS and FBI before to scare people. This sounds like their new tactic.

I assume they're either using burner cellphones, or VOIP that hides their true ID. Your caller gave a Utah number but I can guarantee you they aren't really calling from there.

My landline (Verizon) is good at identifying spam calls, and most of them don't get through. The few that do get through are dropped after 2 rings. I never answer or call back.

becasuse they might be planning to use your address for a money drop or worse. No, you are not in danger. Tehy try to make the handoffs as unobtrusive as possible, often doing it right at the delivery van.

Don't ever call spam calls back with any number they give you, it confirms that the name and address they have are correct and connected. If they say they're from any government department or corporation or even NGO, look their number up online and verify the number you were given. No verification, no call back, and sucks to be crooks.

Don't feel bad, these people are slick as hell. Next time, you'll know.

At this point, sign me up.

Assholes.

As post #3 mentioned, the 'grandpa' one.

An older man I know, very intelligent, had six grandchildren. Three of them were traveling overseas, I've forgotten now but let's say Italy, and he was aware of their itinerary. He received a call from one of them who in a rather muffled voice said hi grandpa, this is John. I've got a cold, can you hear me OK? We are in X city, and I accidentally ran into a lady who was crossing the street. We're all in jail, they need $900 for bail, and we need to contact an attorney, they've taken our passports. A few more sentences, then John asked him not to tell anyone and gave him a number for the 'jail'. He called the number, 'they' verified the story, he then called the attorney and paid.

This from the FCC.

Grandparents often have a hard time saying no to their grandchildren, which is something scam artists know all too well.

Scammers who gain access to consumers' personal information – by mining social media or purchasing data from cyber thieves – can create storylines to prey on the fears of grandparents. The scammers call and impersonate a grandchild – or another close relative – in a crisis situation, asking for immediate financial assistance. Sometimes these callers “spoof” the caller ID to make an incoming call appear to be coming from a trusted source.

Often the imposter claims to have been in an accident or arrested. The scammer may ask the grandparent “please don’t let mom and dad know,” and may hand the phone over to someone posing as a lawyer seeking immediate payment.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/scam-alert/grandparent-scams-get-more-sophisticated

pranking as the pre-teens they are.
They're running out of secret places to steal from.