Abstract
No longer limited by geographic locations and in-person interactions, criminals leverage information and communication technology to commit virtual kidnappings. In its simplest form, a virtual kidnapping is a cyber-enabled crime where criminals contact targets (falsely) claiming to have kidnapped a significant other, child, or other relative and threatening to cause death or serious bodily harm to the person unless a ransom is paid. Overall, little is known about virtual kidnappings and the characteristics of the actors and groups that commit this cyber-enabled crime. To identify these characteristics, this article conducts an in-depth, virtual kidnapping case study analysis based on a systematic review of more than 7000 news reports, official reports, and court documents between January 2000 and March 2022. The aims of the article are twofold. First, the article identifies the intersection between technology and kidnapping to place virtual kidnapping within the broader kidnapping literature. Second, the article develops a comprehensive typology of virtual kidnapping based on an in-depth analysis of 75 cases that identifies the characteristics of the actors and groups involved in this crime, including: whether this crime is committed individually, with another actor, or as part of a group; if there are ties to transnational organized crime; the gender and nationality of actors; the size, structure, and roles of members of any identified groups; and the actors’ and groups’ tactics, tools, targets, areas of operation, and modus operandi. The research findings of this study can assist criminal justice agencies in the identification, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of this crime.
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Notes
To incentivize third parties to pay the ransom, the target is often released after the payment is made.
A cyber organized crime is a cybercrime that involves an organized criminal group or participation in an organized criminal group (UNODC, 2021). An organized criminal group is defined as “a structured group of three or more persons, existing for a period of time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offenses established in accordance with this Convention, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit” (Article 2(a), United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime).
These cases involved a lone actor, dyad, or group.
It is possible that the adult or child heard screaming or pleading is a recording. Recordings may even include the real voice of the alleged kidnapped person, either provided by that person and/or created by artificial intelligence.
In C40, Los Zetas is mentioned.
In C40, threatened to send his daughter’s head to him in a bag if ransom was not paid.
May have been a child or adult. This was not confirmed.
The exact origin of the offenders is not always obvious in most cases.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our research assistant, Lori Kanina. We would also like to thank Conor O'Reilly for his comments on a previous draft of our paper.
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Funding for this work was provided by a Faculty Scholarship grant from the Office for the Advancement of Research at John Jay College.
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Maras, MH., Arsovska, J. Understanding the Intersection Between Technology and Kidnapping: A Typology of Virtual Kidnapping. Int Criminol 3, 162–176 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43576-023-00091-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43576-023-00091-4