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  Geebo 8:00 am on March 16, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cartel scam, FBI ( 22 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), Spring Break, traveling ( 14 ), virtual kidnapping ( 44 )   

  Spring break is the season of kidnapping scams 

  

  By Greg Collier

  It’s getting to be that time of year when college students from around the country descend on locales with warmer climates. Of course, I’m talking about Spring Break. While the US has many beach hotspots students can enjoy, many will choose to go outside the country to try to maximize their Spring Break experience. Whether it’s the Caribbean, Central America, or overseas, Spring Breakers should be relatively safe as long as they don’t stray from the tourist areas. However, scammers are hoping that the parents of Spring Breakers are not so sure about the safety of their college-aged children.

  The FBI is advising they see an increase in the virtual kidnapping scam during Spring Break since so many students are traversing in and out of the country. As you may have heard, in the virtual kidnapping scam, scammers will have claimed to have kidnapped a loved one and will demand a ransom. Meanwhile, your loved one is actually safe and has no idea their well-being is being used in a scam. The reason we’re focusing this time on students traveling outside the country is because kidnappings for ransom are quite rare in the United States. That doesn’t mean the scam doesn’t take place in the US. You can read more about those here.

  The FBI is saying that during Spring Break, these scammers will claim to be from a drug cartel or corrupt police department. The scammers will then demand a ransom in some untraceable form, such as gift cards or money transfer. There might even be someone in the background of the phone call screaming, pretending to be the supposed kidnap victim. The scammers will also try to keep you on the phone, so you don’t have a chance to try to contact your loved one. However, that’s precisely what you should do. Try to contact your loved one on another device as quickly as possible. Keep the scammers on the phone by repeating their orders, and tell them you’re writing their instructions down. Don’t volunteer any information to the callers, they can use that against you during the call. In numerous instances, the scammers will use information they’ve taken from social media to make it seem like they have your loved one held hostage.

  The best way to avoid falling victim to this scam is to set up a code word of sorts between you and your kids, who are traveling for Spring Break. This way, you should be able to immediately identify if your children are in actual danger.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 8, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cartel scam, death threat, Scams ( 1,354 ), text messaging ( 36 ), violence scam ( 4 )   

  Victim loses $1000 to cartel scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  While it’s been a while, we’ve discussed the cartel scam before. Previously with this scam, scammers text their victims claiming to be part of a crime cartel from Mexico. They threaten their victims and the victims’ families with violence if they don’t pay money to the scammers. This is often followed up with violent images texted to the victims, with the scammers claiming this was the last person who didn’t pay. While many of us would deduce that this was a scam, what if we had family that lived on the border?

  A Dallas, Texas man recently received a text from someone claiming to be part of a cartel. The text said that the man owed them money and if he didn’t pay them, they were going to hurt him and his family. The man texted them back saying that he had no idea what they were talking about. The scammers called the man and listed the names of the man’s family members they were going to harm. The man’s family happened to live in El Paso, Texas, which is right across the border from Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is where many of the infamous crime cartels operate out of. The man paid the scammers $1000 before contacting Dallas police, who told him it was a scam. We can’t say we blame the man for falling victim to this scam.

  This is part of the reason why we say that anyone can fall for a scam. There is a set of circumstances where anyone could fall prey to a scammer.

  As far as this scam goes, if you receive text like this, do not respond to it. Instead, you should contact your local police department. Then contact your family members to make sure they’re ok. You should also limit what you share on social media, as that’s how scammers are able to obtain such in-depth information about their victims and their families.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on February 12, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cartel scam, hitman ( 2 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), virtual kidnapping ( 44 )   

  No, a hitman is not coming for you 

  

  Two of the more disturbing scams to be a victim of are the cartel scam and the virtual kidnapping scam. Both of these scams use threats of violence to try to get a victim to make a large payment to the scammer while under duress. However, the victim is usually in no real danger. It’s this kind of subterfuge that scammers will stoop to in order to deceive their victims.

  In the virtual kidnapping scam, the scammer will claim to have one of your loved ones held hostage. In reality, the person is unharmed. With the cartel scam, the scammers will send you violent and graphic images while threatening this will happen to you if you don’t pay them. As the name suggests, the scammers pose as a criminal cartel. Now, there are reports of a new scam that have similar vibes to these two.

  In this new scam, the victim will receive a message claiming to be from an actual hitman. The elaborate message states that they were instructed to kill you, but the hitman has had a change of heart. However, in order to call off the hit, the victim needs to pay off the hitman.

  If you receive one of these messages, the odds are pretty good that you’re in no actual danger. This scam is using the movie idea of a hitman to threaten the victims into paying. Much like how kidnappings for ransom in America usually only happen on TV, hitmen are very unlikely to message their targets. Actual hitmen tend to be employed by organized crime while their targets tend to be from rival crime factions.

  If you do receive one of these messages, you are asked to report them to your local police or the FTC’s Fraud Website.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 10, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cartel scam, Scams ( 1,354 ), text messaging ( 36 ), violence scam ( 4 )   

  Texting scam threatens victims with violence 

  

  While not a new scam, there seems to be a resurgence in a disturbing text messaging scam. In this scam, the scammers will text their victims claiming to be from an organized crime cartel. The scammers will try to intimidate their victims into sending them money by threatening the victim with violence and sending the victim graphic pictures of people who have been violently murdered. This is usually followed up with the threat of this is what they’ll do to you if you don’t pay them. In reality, the victim is rarely ever in any real danger. Now, it seems, the scammers are increasing their intimidation tactics.

  A man in North Carolina recently received one of these text messages. The messages he received said that he owed the cartel $1500 and followed up with the graphic images and threats. However, what made this instance particularly disturbing was that the scammers knew the man’s name and address. They also had the names and addresses of some of his family members. They even claimed that they had men outside of his home in case he didn’t pay them. The man ended up blocking the number and contacting police.

  These types of scammers are hoping that by using threats of violence they can put their victims in such an emotional state that the victims will give in to the scammer’s demands. More often than not, the scammers are calling or messaging from overseas and have no real way of carrying out these threats.

  If you receive one of these threatening texts it is recommended that you do not respond to the scammers. Instead, you should contact law enforcement.

  Victims who have fallen for the scam have were instructed to make payment through gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or money transfers. These are hallmarks of the majority of scams as once the payment is sent it’s almost impossible to get back and is even more difficult to trace.