Virtual Kidnappings to Increase in the US

Reports of increasing virtual kidnappings in the US prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to issue an alert in September 2015, highlighting the crime as an emerging threat. Although there are several iterations of virtual kidnappings, cases generally follow a similar pattern. The victim will receive a phone call from the assailants – frequently represented as drug cartel members or corrupt law enforcement officials – who make specific demands to ensure the safe return of a loved one that has allegedly been kidnapped. However, unlike traditional cases of kidnap for ransom, the loved one is never actually abducted by perpetrators. Instead, assailants rely on perceived threats of violence to force the targeted individual to hand over money in a short timeframe. 

The assailants’ primary aim in these cases is to ensure that the victims do not verify the whereabouts of their loved ones before handing over a relatively small ransom. Assailants will wait until the ‘abductee’ is unavailable for contact by phone, such as in a movie, business meeting, or in a university class before contacting their victims. Alternatively, assailants will threaten violence against the victim to prevent them from hanging up or investigating the abduction claim. Furthermore, callers have been known to use accomplices to scream in the background to heighten the victim’s sense of fear and urgency. 

While comprehensive statistics on this type of kidnapping are unavailable, police in major cities in California, Nevada, Texas, Florida and New York claim that virtual kidnapping has consistently increased in the US since 2013. Virtual kidnappings have become so popular because the scam offers a high return for limited investment or risk on the part of the assailants. Traditional kidnappings require significant planning and resources, while many virtual kidnapping cases are opportunistic. In the US, many calls are reportedly made from Puerto Rico or Central America and are usually untraceable, which makes apprehending assailants less likely in most cases. 

Criminals tend to randomly select names from phone books or professional directories. For example, in August 2014, there was a flurry of virtual kidnapping cases against local doctors working in the San Antonio area of Texas. One of the targeted doctors claimed that even though he did not have a daughter, he feared that someone’s life was in danger, and was reluctant to hang up the phone when assailants attempted to extort a ransom. The spate of virtual kidnapping attempts prompted the FBI to issue a warning to local doctors in the regional service area. 

One of the primary tools used by virtual kidnappers is information drawn from victims’ online social media profiles. American virtual kidnapping victims have commented that perpetrators knew their personal information, including what kinds of cars they drive, names of family members and their day-today activities. While social networks provide people with a platform to share information and interact with others, online sharing reveals significant amounts of information, particularly if users’ security preferences are lax. According to a 2015 study by the Pew Research Centre, nearly 65 percent of adults in the US use social networking websites, up from seven percent in 2005. This exponential increase in usage provides criminals with a growing pool of potential victims for virtual kidnappings. 

Given that virtual kidnapping is a low-risk and low-investment endeavour for criminals, and personal information is becoming increasingly accessible through online platforms, the upward trend in virtual kidnapping is likely to continue in the US in 2016.