The FBI and NYPD are warning about a phone scam where perpetrators demand ransom money for loved ones who have supposedly been kidnapped.

New Yorkers are being alerted to a “virtual kidnapping” con that has already targeted hundreds of people.

According to the FBI, an unidentified caller will tell the victim that a relative has been kidnapped and demand a ransom for his or her safe release.

Scam victims are then forced to stay on the phone until the supposed kidnappers receive money wired into their account, an amount that is usually $600 to $1900.

Sometimes the scammers claim the money was not received and force an additional wire of money.

Victims, who are often kept from contacting the relative, are made to feel extreme fear and panic so they pay the ransom without any evidence of an actual kidnapping.

Sometimes co-conspirators will scream in the background to mimic the cries of the captured loved one.

Other scare tactics include telling the target that her husband or son wa