In the past month alone, four known incidents of ‘virtual kidnappings’ – two in the south west – have been reported, with scammers targeting Chinese international students.
The scammers have requested more than $750,000 in total, with victims receiving threats unless they pay between $175,000 and $250,000.
A ‘virtual kidnapping’ is an extortion scam that involves young people being told they have been implicated in a crime and need to pay money to avoid deportation or being placed under arrest.
Investigators have been told that initial contact is made through a phone call from someone usually speaking in Mandarin and claiming to be a representative from a Chinese authority, such as the Chinese Embassy, Consulate or police.
The victim is then threatened or coerced into transferring large amounts of money into unknown offshore bank accounts.
As the scam escalates, the victims are coerced into faking their own kidnappings before the scammer sends these images to their family and demands ransom payments for their safe release.
The families involved are led to believe the victim is in danger and a ransom needs to be paid to secure their ‘release’.
The caller will continue to make threats and ransom demands until they are unable to obtain any further payments, which often sees the victim’s family contacting police.
Robbery and Serious Crime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi, said anyone who receives a call involving demands for money under the threat of violence should hang up, contact the Chinese Consulate in Sydney to verify the claims and report the matter to the NSW Police Force.
“We understand that victims of virtual kidnappings may be traumatised or embarrassed following the incident – we want them to know there is no shame in coming forward to police for assistance,” he said.
