When fear is the best accomplice of scammers
Ah, modernity. Before, kidnappers at least bothered to appear in person with balaclavas and toy weapons bought on the black market. Today, with a simple call and a pinch of psychological terror, they achieve the same thing: emptying the pockets of entire families without even leaving the couch. Isn’t progress wonderful?
Imagine the scene: you are in class, reviewing how you will survive the next math test, when suddenly your phone rings. “Skip school, don’t hang up; we are from the cartel…”. What a way to ruin your day! What follows is a script as predictable as a soap opera episode: they make you run like a headless chicken, avoid calls (including those from your mother, who only wants to know if you arrived safely), and even take photos of you as if you were a kidnapping influencer. Meanwhile, they demand money from your family for your “liberation.” All this, of course, without any criminal bothering to appear in person. What efficiency!
The art of scaring (and emptying bank accounts)
According to Francisco Reyes, Commissioner of Intelligence (yes, that position exists), the criminals are true social network investigators. Nothing like stalking public profiles to collect personal data and use it in your next masterpiece of phone extortion. “We’ve seen an increase in these cases,” says Reyes, with the same worried face you’d wear when you saw the price of avocados go up.
And here’s the most ironic thing: there was never an actual kidnapping. Just a bunch of lies, emotional pressure and desperate family members who pay for fear. The result? Financial losses and a trauma that not even the best therapist could erase with a funny meme.
The figures, as always, are to cry (or laugh, if you have a very dark mood): Guadalajara reported 16 cases this year, Tonalá 7, Tlajomulco 21… Come on, it even seems like a competition of who has the most victims of virtual kidnapping. Prize? A free trip to jail (if they get caught, of course).
How to avoid being the next protagonist of this melodrama?
The authorities, in an attempt to appear helpful, recommend the obvious: don’t answer calls from unknown numbers (unless you hope to win a sweepstakes you never entered). If you have already fallen into the trap, cut it off immediately and check with your family. And, of course, report. Because, let’s be honest, what better way to frustrate a criminal than to waste their time?
There are also special numbers to report these cases, such as 333-452-5983 in Tlajomulco or 332-319-9451 in Tonalá. Because nothing says “citizen security” like having to memorize a list of different telephone numbers for each municipality.
Moral of the day: if you are going to be a victim of a crime, at least it is one with a little more effort. In the meantime, protect your data, review your privacy settings and, above all, don’t believe everything they tell you on the phone. Unless it’s your grandmother reminding you to eat well. That call, that one is real.
Did you find this information useful? Share it on your networks and help others avoid falling into these traps. And if you want more tips on not getting scammed (because, let’s face it, the world is full of creative criminals), keep exploring our content.
