Durham police are warning the public about a “virtual kidnapping” scam designed to leverage ransom money from a victim’s parents, spouse, or friends.
Police were made aware of the scam after the parents and friends of an 18-year-old student from Montreal were defrauded of over $200,000.
The female victim was approached and told that she had been implicated in a crime ring, police say. The scammers told her to take photos of herself tied up and in distress, making it look like she was a kidnapping victim. She was then told to wait in a hotel room.
The scammers told the woman that she would be arrested and thrown in jail if she didn’t follow their instructions.
Police say the scammers then sent those images to her mother in Oshawa, demanding ransom money through an app called “WECHAT.” More than $200,000 was transferred by the woman’s parents and friends to an unknown bank account.
Durham police were contacted by the woman’s mother on May 16 to report the kidnapping. Investigators determined that her daughter was still in Montreal, where police found her still waiting in the hotel room. She was unharmed and was reunited with her family.
Police say there have been similar incidents throughout the GTA. Anyone contacted by the scammers should contact local police.
