A smart thinking convenience store employee saved a 74-year-old woman several thousand pesos after noticing that she was nervous as she tried to make a cash deposit this week.
Questioning the woman, the employee learned that she had received a phone call from a man informing her that her granddaughter had been kidnapped and that she must pay a ransom for her release.
The woman, who lives in the Colonia Moderna neighborhood of Guadalajara, was advised by the employee to call the municipal police, who told her the call was almost certainly a hoax—another “virtual kidnapping” extortion ploy that is all too common throughout Mexico. The police helped her call her granddaughter, who was safe and sound.
Virtual kidnappers use deception and threats to coerce victims to pay a ransom. They often threaten to harm the “kidnapped” individual if a family member calls law enforcement.
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