A new free app, No Mas XT (No Mas Extorsiones), provides a warning if a call is coming in from a number filed on a national database of known numbers used by criminals and extortionists.
The app, developed by a non-profit civic group, also allows the person receiving the call to immediately relay its details to a centralized monitoring system in Mexico City.
The app is intended to help guard against telephone extortion and give clues to the identities of the criminals.
Since December 2007, the Consejo Ciudadano de la Ciudad de México (Mexico City Citizens’ Council) has collected a database of 65,000 numbers and almost 8,000 bank account numbers used for extortion attempts.
One of the most common telephone extortion scams is for criminals to call someone and pretend they have kidnapped one of their family members, usually a son or daughter. The victim is then told to deposit a ransom immediately in a bank account to secure their relative’s release.