14 DAY TRIAL // Scammers running the “virtual kidnapping” extortion trick have started to direct their attention towards doctors, which is a more lucrative segment than random picking of the victims.
The FBI, San Antonio Division, warns that lately they have noticed cybercriminals to take a particular interest in physicians in South Texas when running their so-called “virtual kidnapping” scams; these consist in calling the victim and demanding a ransom payment (generally by wire transfer) for releasing one of their loved ones, who has allegedly been taken hostage.
This is just a scenario they play for the victim, but it can be very effective, especially since in some cases screams of help are heard in the background.
“While the reported number of “virtual kidnapping” extortion schemes appears to be increasing, a recent trend indicates perpetrators of these schemes may be targeting physicians—to include dentists, general practitioners, and various specialists—in South Texas. This year, during the months of June and July, the FBI received multiple reports indicating physicians in McAllen, Laredo, Brownsville, and Del Rio, Texas, were contacted in attempts to collect extortion payments in “virtual kidnapping” schemes,” says Special Agent Michelle Lee in a communication.
In a more elaborate scheme of the charade, the crooks may even contact the alleged hostage, pretending to be from the mobile carrier and asking them to turn off their phone for a few hours for some changes of the mobile network.
Messages from individuals claiming to have fallen victims this sort of scams have gone viral. Christopher Boyd from Malwarebytes caught a few examples on different social networks and noticed that they were simply copies of the message from different sources.
Spreading the same message can raise awareness of the users that may receive such phone calls.
The FBI provides a few indicators that can reveal the true nature of the scam. Since the crooks are generally from outside the US, a good clue is checking the area code of the phone call.
Another clue is the fact that the scammer tries to prevent the victim from contacting the alleged hostage; multiple phone calls from the same number located outside the US is also a valid reason to be suspicious.
Special Agent Lee says that the callers make hundreds of calls to numbers from phone directories or phone lists.
One thing to keep in mind is that the network operator does not need to have customers turn off their mobile devices to conduct network maintenance or upgrade activities. Users should not comply to such requests.