Phone ransoms

Criminals are either getting smarter or the Internet is doing more damage than it good for the rest of us.

A while back, I received an email about a scam that is occurring in the Phillipines where a mother receives a phone call demanding a ransom of a disclosed amount of money for the safe return of her son that is being held for ransom.

She tries calling the son but she couldn't get him and so she paid the money, only to find out that her son had been safe, in school, the whole time.

Prior to the call she received, the son had been receiving several crank calls that made him switch off his mobile so he could concentrate in class. Hence, the reason why the mother could not get through to her son to make sure he was okay.

Apparently, this thing is making its way to Malaysia, or perhaps, have been around for sometime now. And, it is evolving.

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NST Online> Local News

BIGGER MENACE OF PHONE RANSOMS

KUALA LUMPUR: The phone ransom menace has spread from the Klang Valley as the syndicate behind it has expanded operations nationwide.

It is now operating in Sabah, Penang and Johor, where several cases have been detected.

It is believed the syndicate had moved its operations due to the "heat" from police in the Klang Valley.

The syndicate is also said to be using local phone numbers instead of relying on those issued by international telecommunication companies.

Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Da- tuk Seri Bakri Zinin said the modus operandi was to gather background information on the victim and family through random phone calls.
Once it had obtained the details, it would make a telephone call saying that a particular member of the family had been kidnapped and demand that the phone not be disconnected until the ransom had been transferred into a bank account or paid by Western Union transfers.

Bakri said in some cases, syndicate members would use the sound of children crying in the background to "authenticate" their claim.

"Although it is a scary experience, I ask the public to stay calm and think rationally about the demand.

"Please try to find ways to check on the location of your loved ones before believing what the syndicate members are claiming."

Bakri said there were cases where the syndicate was exposed when the families found the "victims" were safe.

"Some families just shrug off the experience and do not bother to lodge a police report."

Bakri said that the police were compiling data on such cases to help in investigations


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Scary, isn't it?

The worst part about this is that if the scammers were to be caught in the act, they will only be trialed on the basis of scamming people; not kidnapping, not endangering the lives of civillians, not even for extortion because they practically lied about having kidnapped a particular victim.

We aren't big on punishing scammers, heck, we aren't even big on punishing people who distribute questionable contents as in the case of Eli Wong's private photos... which reminds me, haven't they found that jerk boyfriend of hers yet? I mean, he isn't a terrorist or an international smuggler. How hard is it to find an average Joe like that? You know what, as a passing thought, maybe we should get help from that MACC fella who closed the case against Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's lembu case.

What? He works fast what.