Virtual Kidnapping: How Scammers Target International Students
By: Callum Denault
Published on: October 28th, 2024
International students and their families are at risk of virtual kidnapping, a fake kidnapping faked to trick people into paying real ransom money to “rescue” their loved ones.
This scam is done without the victim knowing or by scammers manipulating the victim into faking their kidnapping. An example of the first scenario involves an Arizonian woman who falsely believed her 15-year-old daughter was kidnapped in 2023, as reported by CNN. By replicating the daughter’s voice using artificial intelligence, the scammers called the mother and demanded $1 million. The woman got a call from her real daughter during the scam and had no idea what her mother had been going through.
The second scenario—wherein an individual is in on their virtual kidnapping to help scammers get money from their own family, and is accomplished under duress.
International students may be made aware they owe scammers (who often pose as legitimate authorities) a bunch of money, or that they committed a crime and have a debt to pay back.
Out of fear that they will be arrested or deported, these international students then agree to the fake kidnapping. Scammers might tie them up and send the student’s family photographic “proof” that they are holding their loved one hostage.
These kinds of scams are evolving and con artists are developing new strategies once the old ones get noticed too often. Newer technologies like AI allow for more sophisticated and convincing scams.
Imposter scams have gone on for years, with criminals calling senior citizens to lie and tell them that their grandchildren were involved in an accident and need money for medical bills. However, new technologies like AI allow for more sophisticated and convincing scams.
A Toronto private investigation agency called Crow PI reported that international students contribute over $21 billion to the Canadian economy, making them a prime target for scammersAside from tricking their victims into paying bogus governmental fees, some scammers blackmail international students by threatening to release private or possibly embarrassing information about them to their families back home.
Fortunately, blackmailing is illegal in Canada. According to criminalcodehelp.ca, if it can be proven to the court beyond a reasonable doubt that someone used “threats, accusations, menaces, or violence” to coerce their victim into doing anything, that person is at risk of going to jail.
Recognize the warning signs of potential extortion and keep scammers away. Scammers may use email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information that look like those belonging to a legitimate authority at first glance.
However, on closer inspection, they have misspellings. Hovering your cursor over or holding down on a link before going to the destination website can reveal if the HTML belongs to a legitimate website or a scam webpage masquerading as one. A warning of a fraudulent message can include urgent language that frighteningly calls for immediate action (to avoid terrible consequences) or grammar/spelling errors.
The Government of Canada has a webpage dedicated to helping people determine whether the CRA is legitimately contacting them. It includes the phone numbers that tax authorities use to make calls. Securing personal information secure using passwords and two-step verification on mobile devices and computers.
Independently looking up the contact information of a government agency or bank is a superb way to connect with the real people that scammers like imitating. Fake landlords can be avoided by arranging to meet them in person and using written contracts instead of quickly paying them virtually.
Aside from scammers themselves, people who fake their kidnappings are also at risk of facing serious legal trouble, mainly because the police investigate every report of kidnapping they get, making it a big waste of time and resources when no one is actually missing in the first place.
Arguably, there is a semantic difference between genuine fake kidnappings—when someone purposely goes “missing” on their own without being tricked by any other criminals—and virtual kidnappings. However, going along with criminals’ demands is never a bright idea.
Anyone who is facing threats of blackmail or severe financial issues should avoid cooperating with their oppressors. Instead, seek help from a lawyer or the police.