Warning! Virtual Kidnapping Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

by Kim D.

Virtual kidnapping is a scam, one that's been around for quite some time, but in the burbs, things like this are usually chalked up as urban legend stuff.  Well, not in my "hood."  I live in a suburb of Houston, relatively small and quiet. But, this week my email inbox was pummeled with warnings of potential virtual kidnapping schemes that have been perpetrated in my neighborhood.

According to the email,

In this scheme, an individual will call claiming to have kidnapped a family member.  While there has been no actual kidnapping, the caller will use an accomplice (usually female) to convince the victim that a family member or friend has been kidnapped.  This scenario could be as simple as ‘I have your daughter’ and the accomplice would shout in the background ‘help me mommy’ or ‘they have me mommy’.  At this point the caller (usually male) will threaten physical violence to the daughter or threaten the caller by saying you will never see her again.  Often in these types of scenarios, the victim will inadvertently say their real life loved one’s name.  The caller is quick to catch on.  From that point on, the caller will refer to the accomplice by that name.  

Another example of this scam is where a caller may attempt to convince the victim that their spouse (husband or wife), a child (son or daughter) or a friend had gotten into a car accident with a gang member.  The caller will pretend to be a friend or relative of the gang member and tell the victim that the family member is injured and needs to go to the hospital but that it won’t be allowed until there is payment for the damage done to the gang member’s car.  Still other variations of this “kidnapping” scam involve car accidents, drug debts, gang assaults, being detained in a foreign prison, or persons being smuggled across the border.  Victim’s telephone numbers appear to be dialed at random and the originating telephone number, through resources like reverse lookup, belong to no one and typically aren’t affiliated with a city or region.

The caller will typically provide the victim with specific instructions to insure the safe return of the “kidnapped” individual.  In some cases these instructions involve demands of a ransom payment.  Callers are ordered to stay on the telephone until the money is wired, often to a third party in Puerto Rico.  Most schemes, not just the “kidnapping” use a variety of techniques to instill a sense of fear, panic, and urgency in an effort to rush the victim into making a very hasty decision.  Instructions usually require the ransom be paid immediately and typically by wire transfer using companies such as Western Union.  The ransom amounts vary but are usually between $600 and $3000.  Once the payment is made, the “kidnappers” often claim the money was not received and the victim is told to wire additional money. The perpetrators of this scam are often Hispanic males.  While their Spanish accent may be noticeable, they typically have an excellent command of the English language.