On Friday, Nov. 8 U.S. investigators managed to dismantle a network of virtual kidnappers operating on the Mexican border, San Diego authorities said.
According to El Informador, the National Security Investigation Unit of San Diego's Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained four individuals who extorted their victims via telephone, telling them members of their family had been kidnapped in Mexico, and demanded a ransom to return them safely.
The so-called "virtual kidnappers" hadn't really kidnapped anyone; however, they had managed to trick many families into giving them large sums of money since 2007, according to authorities.
National Security agents revealed that the people arrested managed to coordinate an operation that included calls from Tijuana, Mexico to various San Diego numbers. In those calls, made from at least 30 different telephone numbers, the criminals demanded a money transfer after claiming they had kidnapped a family member that tried to enter the United States illegaly.
Despite their operation being focused on extorting immigrants in the United States, authorities have determined that the criminals would dial San Diego numbers randomly.
"They dialed a sequence of numbers, from 1 to 100. They operated like any telephone salesman. They had a script. 'You have to pay this money, otherwise something's going to happen,'" said Special Agent Daniel Page, leader of the National Security Investigation Unit, according to El Informador.
Although not everyone the criminals called paid the ransom, the criminal group extorted at least half a million dollars since 2007.
In Mexico and Latin America, "virtual kidnappings" are a common practice; however, specialists fear that these crimes will spread to the United States.
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