COUNTYWIDE : Hoaxer Claims to Hold Husbands

Two women from Thousand Oaks are the latest targets of a man who calls married women, claims he has their husbands bound at gunpoint and sometimes demands $5,000 ransom, officials said Thursday.

At least 10 women in Camarillo, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks and Ventura have been contacted since July 25, Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Scott Miller said. None of the women’s husbands have been abducted, he said.

The caller appears to select his victims from telephone book listings that include both spouses’ first names, Miller said. All the calls were made between 7 and 11 a.m.

Miller asked that anyone who receives such a call feign cooperation to get detailed information before hanging up and immediately contacting the Sheriff’s Department.