US mum has credited a secret code word with preventing her daughter’s potential kidnapping.

Brenda James says her 10-year-old daughter had been playing at a park in Arizona when she began the short walk home.

A white SUV pulled up alongside her and the male driver allegedly tried to get her into the vehicle.

“He told her that her brother had been in a serious accident and that she needed to come with him,” Ms James tells WAVY TV.

She says her daughter had a bad feeling and asked the driver for the code word she and her parents had come up with so she would know if a stranger was safe.

The man didn’t know it, so the girl ran home.

“She’s still really upset,” Ms James says. “She didn’t want to go to school today. She’s still really scared.”

The rattled mother says she and her daughter only came up with the code word a few months ago.

“I never thought it would be used and I’m very proud of her for remembering that,” she says.

“In case of an emergency we came up with a code word and this one time it saved my daughter’s life,” she adds.

Pinal County Sheriff’s officials posted a warning on their Facebook page, requesting parents use caution.

“Kudos to the parents of this child for having a code word and talking about to their children about stranger danger,” they said. “We hope by putting this out, it will encourage parents to have that conversation and create a plan with their children, so they know what to do if they are in that situation.”

Make sure you sit your children down and have a chat about a safe word they could use if anyone different attempts to pick them up!

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