U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on Friday said he sent a letter to the FBI asking the agency to alert the public about a telephone scam occurring in Connecticut and around the United States.

“People should be immediately alerted of these malicious telephone scams,” Murphy said in a statement.

Several people from Connecticut have fallen victim to the scam, where a caller claims that a family member of the intended victim has been involved in an accident and is being held hostage until the caller receives money.

“Working families, immigrant communities and senior citizens appear to be the targets of this insidious activity, and our state’s law enforcement could use any help that the FBI can offer to help ensure that no more Connecticut residents fall victim to this scam,” Murphy said.

Murphy urged the FBI to publish the details of this fraud using the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) network so that state and local authorities can be on the lookout.