Virtual Kidnapping

Basic Information

Virtual kidnapping is a scam involving a faked kidnapping for ransom. The mark is contacted by someone claiming to be a kidnapper, who is holding a victim and demanding payment. The supposed victim, however, is perfectly safe and unaware that anything is happening at all. This is a scam that has to be run quickly; the goal is to collect a ransom before the lie falls apart.

Often, the grifter is prepared to show "proof" of the kidnapping. This can be as simple as a phone call from a spoofed number with someone screaming in the background, though more recent versions can involve voice cloning.

Sources

Bibliography

1. FBI article

2. ‘Mom, these bad men have me’: She believes scammers cloned her daughter’s voice in a fake kidnapping (CNN)

Game and Story Use

• Easily transported to other settings, though some changes might be needed.
  • In a pre-modern setting, you might need to steal or copy a possession, such as a personal seal, or obtain a secret. Or simply brazen it out if the mark demands proof.
  • A futuristic setting, especially one where everything is online, might have the ability to do realtime deepfakes supported by near-instant datamining.
  • Under traditional laws of magic, contagion might be used to check on or attempt to trace the "victim" - though the victims with the strongest link are the ones least likely to leave a spellcaster thinking clearly.
• A variation might involve the "victim" faking their own kidnapping, either just to bilk cash out of a relative or as a prelude to "disappearing" entirely.
• As a high-level manipulation, this is unlikely to be particularly useful; you can only extort the mark for the few hours it takes to get exposed. Having them in a panic for those few hours, though, might be enough for something else.