I have been warning you about phony kidnapping scams, also known as virtual kidnapping, for fourteen years and according to the FBI, the scam is increasing in frequency.   Generally, the scam starts with a telephone call informing the person answering the phone that a child or other relative has been kidnapped and if the person receiving the call does not respond by wiring money right away, the relative will be killed.  As with so many scams, we are often our own worst enemy and this scam is no exception.  In many instances, the scammers gather personal information about the intended scam victims from information that the intended victims or members of their families post on social media.   Armed with  personal information gathered from social media, a scammer can describe the supposed kidnapped victim or provide personal information that would make it appear that indeed they actually do have the person in their custody.

This scam has evolved to be even more convincing through the use of AI voice cloning technology to clone the voice of the person the scammers say they have kidnapped.  They get the audio through social media posts to make the call from the kidnapper appear to be more believable. With voice cloning becoming so easy to do, even technologically unsophisticated scammers are able to utilize it to make their scam seem legitimate.  In addition, the FBI has just issued a warning about scammers sending deepfake videos or photos of the person they claim to have kidnapped to prove that they actually are holding the victim.  Often the scammers will send the photos or videos using timed message features that limit the time that the family targeted in the scam can actually view the photos or videos because upon close inspection they can be determined to be fake.

TIPS

Always be skeptical if you receive such a call.  Never wire money to anyone for anything unless you are totally convinced that what you are doing is legitimate because unlike paying for something with a credit card, once your wired funds have been sent, they are impossible to get back.  Talk to the alleged kidnapper as long as possible, thereby giving someone else with you the time to call  or text the alleged kidnap victim on his or her phone.   If the purported kidnapping victim is a young child, call the school to confirm that he or she is safe.   You also could ask the kidnapper to describe your relative as well as provide information, such as his or her birth date, which could be found on a driver’s license, however, it is important to remember that much of this kind of information may be available through social media or elsewhere on the Internet.

Parents should also check the privacy settings of the social media of their children and consider limiting the availability of their children’s posts.

Remember, even if the call appears to come from your family member’s phone, it is a simple matter for a scammer to “spoof” the number to manipulate your Caller ID to make it appear as if the call was coming from the phone of your family member.

Finally, even paranoids have enemies. A good protective measure for everyone to take to protect themselves from virtual kidnappings is to have a secret password to use in the event of an emergency that can be used to determine if a family member truly is in trouble.

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