Anonymous - 12-23-2004 at 03:29 PM
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23589263.htm
23 Dec 2004
Source: Reuters
MONTERREY, Mexico, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Extortionists in a crime-wracked city on the U.S.-Mexican border have turned to a kidnapping scam to swindle
local families before Christmas, police warned on Thursday.
Police in Tijuana, which lies south of San Diego, California, recorded eight cases of a scam this week in which victims receive a call demanding a
cash ransom for the release of a relative who has supposedly been kidnapped.
Police spokesman Victor Ramirez said the frightened victims swiftly paid ransoms of between 20,000 pesos and 30,000 pesos (between $1,800 and $2,700)
into local bank accounts provided by the gangs, then discovered their relative was never detained.
"The number of cases has risen alarmingly in recent days because it's Christmas and the criminal gangs suspect that there is more money available," he
added.
Ramirez said police believed the extortion demands were made by criminals held in the Baja California state penitentiary in Tijuana. Police said
collaborators outside the prison likely provided information about the purported "kidnapping victims" to the incarcerated criminals.
"They call them on landlines or cell phones from the jail. No arrests have yet been made in the investigation and the general public should be very
vigilant," he warned.
In a 2003 crime survey conducted by risk analysts, Mexico had the second-highest number of kidnappings, following conflict-ridden Colombia.
Criminals have also undertaken so-called "express" kidnappings, in which victims are taken to a series of bank cash machines to withdraw money.
bajalou - 12-26-2004 at 06:09 PM
Maybe the link below will make you feel safer.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=...
