A 19-year-old in South Carolina has been accused of faking his own kidnapping and extorting $130 from his mother by making her believe he’d be killed if she didn’t pay up.
Emmanuel Franklin was arrested on Sunday and charged with blackmail, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
Franklin’s mother told deputies she received a call on January 22 from her son and an unknown man using a private number on Friday, and the man demanded that she put $130 in a neighborhood mailbox or else he would kill him.  Authorities say the teen later admitted to making the story up to get money from his mother.

The mailbox allegedly belonged to Franklin’s father.
It is unclear whether Franklin is in custody as of Wednesday as jail records are not currently available.
The mother’s name was not disclosed by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.