Palo Alto residents warned of ‘virtual kidnapping’ scam

Residents are being warned about a telephone scam in which a caller demands ransom for the return of a loved one, sometimes as someone screams in the background.

The Palo Alto Police Department said it has received several reports in recent weeks of so-called virtual kidnappings.

Typically, the scammer contacts the victim by phone and claims a loved one of theirs has been involved in a car crash, according to police. The scammer then threatens to kidnap and harm the loved one if money isn’t wired into an account to pay for the purported damage.

Police said the scammer often instructs the victim to remain on the phone until the ransom is received. This is to prevent the victim from alerting authorities. Some victims have reported hearing what sounded like the voice of a person in distress in the background.

“In reality, the victim’s loved one has not been involved in any traffic collision whatsoever, has not been kidnapped and was never in any danger,” police said in a news release.

Virtual kidnappings are on the rise, according to authorities.

The FBI began investigating a spurt of cases in 2013. A probe identified at least 80 people in several states who had received such calls, although not all sent money, said Gene Kowel, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s criminal division in Los Angeles.

However, many of the crimes go unreported, he said.

“It’s fair to say there have been thousands of calls made to U.S. victims, primarily from Mexico,” he said.

Last week, a Texas woman became the first person in the nation to be indicted in connection with a virtual kidnapping scheme. Yanette Rodriguez Acosta, 34, of Houston is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. She is facing up to 20 years in prison for each of 10 counts if convicted.

The indictment alleges that Acosta and her accomplices used Mexican telephone numbers to call people in Texas, California and Idaho. They allegedly fooled people into giving them tens of thousands of dollars either through money drops or wire transfers.