A professional violinist last week fell victim to an in-transit virtual kidnapping scam while traveling on a rural highway in the municipality of Girardota, just northeast of Medellin in the northwestern department of Antioquia.
David Rivera was hired to perform at a private event on a farm.
While encountering difficulty in navigating rural roadways on his way to the farm, a person claiming to be his client called and requested he share his location in real time through his smartphone.
The client also requested that Rivera send photos of his current location so that “event staff” could help guide him.
However, Rivera soon began receiving calls from blocked numbers in which callers identified themselves as members of the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Spanish abbr: AGC), Colombia’s largest organized crime syndicate.
The callers reportedly threatened Rivera, claiming he had stumbled upon a meeting of AGC commanders in the area, and that snipers were actively observing him.
Rivera was instructed to turn off his cell phone’s mobile data feature and to delete messaging applications that could be used to call or text family members.
The victim remained in his vehicle for three hours while the scammers kept him on the phone, demanding a 24-million-peso ($6,154) cash transfer, as well as ammunition and medical supplies for AGC fighters.
Rivera ultimately ended up transferring a paltry sum of 600,000 pesos ($154).
Simultaneously, Rivera’s family members also received calls from assailants claiming to have kidnapped the violinist and demanding more cash be digitally transferred.
The family members were in the process of applying for a credit increase on their bank cards for 18-million-peso ($4,615) to pay the ransom, though this request was ultimately not processed after Rivera managed to contact his family and drive away from the area.
Rivera believes the “client” who hired him for the private event, as well as the callers, were part of a local gang who purposely lured him into the rural area to isolate him.
More than likely, the gang were not members of the AGC, but rather scammers calling from a prison or call center who orchestrated the plot to convince Rivera that he in fact was under surveillance by AGC snipers.
Rivera later reported the incident to GAULA, the anti-kidnapping and extortion unit of the National Police.
There has been an increase in rural and semi-rural Colombia in what we would term in-transit virtual kidnappings, in which perpetrators are in the vicinity of the victims and observe them but do not confront them directly.
In some cases, employees of businesses are lured to outlying parts of cities by requests for service and once near their destinations are told by cell phone that they are under surveillance by purported guerrillas or members of organized-crime gangs. They are directed to communicate only with the caller unless instructed otherwise.
In some cases, the business is contacted, informed that an employee has been abducted and instructed to make a bank transfer to secure his or her release. In others, the employee is instructed to call his or her employer or a relative to secure the ransom.
In one recent case, a local employee of a US multinational had been lured by a prospective customer to a location outside Medellin, where he was “held” for several hours by assailants he did not see but who by phone accurately described his vehicle and instructed him to contact a friend to arrange for a bank transfer of a modest ransom.
The astute friend contacted GAULA which told him that the victim was being scammed and advised him to drive away without making payment, which he did without incident.
Companies that dispatch employees to individuals or companies with which they have not previously done business should refrain from providing the employee’s cell phone number and personal information. If they must provide the cell number, they should provide the employee with a second cell phone or send along a second employee with his own cell phone to maintain contact with managers.
The employee should employ text messaging through the second channel to report the particulars of the situation in which he finds himself and receive guidance.
Security professionals should be contacted to render advice and bring in GAULA if necessary.
