Article: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/APNewsBreak-4-charged-in-virtual-kidnappings-4968586.php
Level: National
Category
Concerning: Laundering of money
This is important because random people were being targeted and being told that their loved ones were being held for ransom
My Views: This is frightening. To not know for sure if your loved ones are safe or not and having to send money to some random person in order to free them. Of course people don't really look into it because they are thinking that they need to set their loved ones free. Some of this could be avoided if they were to ask about a loved one's name, age, place of residence, etc. These people were calling random numbers. They didn't even know if the other people had a relative traveling. They just fell into and paid the money. "
But in a small percentage of successes since 2007, the "virtual kidnappers" collected at least $500,000" this means that they kept calling and no one was speaking up to say something. I know if I am sending that much money to someone I would be asking questions. It is great that they caught some of the people behind it and hopefully they will catch even more.
But in a small percentage of successes since 2007, the "virtual kidnappers" collected at least $500,000" this means that they kept calling and no one was speaking up to say something. I know if I am sending that much money to someone I would be asking questions. It is great that they caught some of the people behind it and hopefully they will catch even more.
This is terrifying because people are being manipulated to believe their loved ones had been kidnapped. Since it was immigrants they were targeting, these people would not know whether or not this was true. Most of these individuals probably didn't have much money to begin with. If I received this phone call I would definitely pay the money and even go into debt to save my family. I hope that this does not cause more people to start using this as a way to manipulate people out of their money. Not only is it scary but it can cause people to lose things that they value. I hope to never get a call like this and my heart goes out to the people that were victims in such a scam.
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