A NEW form of exploitation and intimidation is gaining popularity, much to the fear and frustration of investigators.
“Virtual kidnapping” is a ruse designed to lead parents into thinking their child has been kidnapped and forcing them to wire the criminals money.
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The perpetrator will call dozens and dozens of numbers, typically targeting wealthy areas.
When an unsuspecting victim picks up, the scam ramps up.
Perpetrators will threaten to kill or injure children if the victim hangs up or disobeys instructions.
They demand a relatively small amount of money – dollar amounts in the thousands – which parents do not hesitate to part with while under duress.
The perpetrator keeps the victim on the line for the duration of the crime, which prevents parents from discovering their child has not actually been kidnapped and they are being duped by a recording or an accomplice doing an impersonation.
“It’s literally cold-calling. We’ll see 100 phone calls that are total failures, and then we’ll see a completely successful call. And all you need is one, right?” Erik Arbuthnot, an FBI agent, told David Kushner of Business Insider.
Kushner’s own family was the victim of a real kidnapping when his 11-year-old brother was abducted and murdered in Florida during their childhood.
Richard Mendelstein, a 56-year-old software engineer was a victim of the virtual kidnapping crime. He told Kushner that he paid $4,000 to have his daughter ‘freed’ only to find she was never actually abducted.
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Mendelstein said he experienced relief to find the crime was fake, but the trauma is real.
In covering virtual kidnappings, Kushner wrote “Even though it wasn’t an actual kidnapping, like the one my family went through, they experienced all of the same emotions and trauma that come when a child is missing: the fear, the panic, the helplessness.”
Putting an end to virtual kidnapping is going to be a challenge.
Through their investigations, the FBI came to find that many virtual kidnappers are criminals who are already in jail, many of them in Mexico.
The low financial demands, the hours spent making call after call and the ease with which they intimidate strangers tipped off the FBI that the crime was a scam devised and applied by inmates.
“What are we going to do?” Kushner quoted Arbuthnot saying. “We’re going to put these people in jail? They’re already in jail.”
As virtual kidnappings spread, the FBI is publicizing strategies for avoiding falling prey to a scam.
The Chicago division of the FBI warns against posting upcoming travel dates online and establishing a family “password” for emergencies.
But, unfortunately, the scams are working.
Investigators found that more than 80 victims were scammed out of a total of $87,000 – which can pale in comparison to the emotional trauma.
Talk to your family about virtual kidnappings and keep your suspicions of mysterious calls on high alert.
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