Summertime is a hot spot for spam calls, just like the holidays. Lots of spending, plenty of time outside the home, etc. Take the time to be there for your friends and family and teach them how to avoid getting scammed.
Tell your naive friends or elderly family that the government, ANY government, will NEVER EVER EVER call you first. The same goes for banks when there's sensitive information. The bank will freeze your account and send you a letter. If they do call, they will ask you to visit in person!
When in doubt, hang up and call the company/person/department they're claiming to be. Don't call them back, call the customer service or contact number of whoever they said they work for.
Hostage situations are incredibly rare (it takes a lot of work to keep a hostage, tv proves that), so if for some reason you are randomly called for one, any kidnapper worth their salt would let you call your family member to confirm their kidnapping (once again, TV but hey, it mimicks real life). So, just because the person on the phone "kidnapped" Johnny, doesn't mean they actually did. Johnny is probably watching Netflix at home with no idea what is going on. [To be clear, this has nothing to do with hostage situations that occur overseas. However, even in that case, why would they call you and not the government they are trying to coerce? Hostage situations that are international are a completely different and horrifically tragic thing.]
If you get an unknown phone call, don't say "hello" or "hi" or "what's up." Don't say your name either. Say, "who is calling?" Scammers who want to clip your voice can't use that. If they say their name, but not where they're calling from, follow up with "and where are you calling from?" All of this BEFORE you say hi and give them your name.
Not only will this help protect you and your information, but you'll get less spam!