Cyber Kidnapping: Legal Challenges in the Digital Era

It is not to our surprise that most of the readers must have watched the famous web series Breaking Bad. Even though extortion is dated back to the time when organised crime by Mexican and Italian mafias was in the picture, it is very much present in the digital era as well. Recently, news came up about a chinese exchange student whose family fell prey to the scam of ‘cyber kidnapping.’ This incident took place in Utah, USA, where a 17-year-old student named Zhuang was declared missing by his high school authorities. Even though the student was later found in the woods in a strangled tent, his parents were extorted for $80,000 in the US,  Cyber security experts have claimed this is the emergence of a new crime branch, i.e., Cyber kidnapping, where the person is threatened to dupe themselves under great danger or harm from the kidnappers to their host or families. They are asked to send staged photos, videos, and messages as evidence.

This takes into account isolation of an individual from the threat of virtual kidnappers. In this case as well, the perpetrator did continuous video monitoring of the individual in order to keep them hostage and coerce their family in order to fulfill the ransom needs. The vulnerability that perpetrators take advantage of is that the individual in this case is either away from the parents and therefore has no chance or opportunity to dually confirm the same. Even in the recent case, the student’s family was situated in China, and he was fully convinced to isolate himself due to the perpetrator’s constant threats. In order to fulfill their malicious motives, the perpetrators make the threats more personal, either through monitoring the online activity or the communication network of the individual. Even in this case, parents of Zhuang in China received photos and videos demanding this hefty ransom. On December 29th, security personnel were able to find Zhuang uninjured in a tent in the Utah desert, following the bank records, phone messages, and transactions to trace his whereabouts. Even though the case had an unharmed conclusion, it highlights the rising practice of cyber-abduction, which mostly targets weaker quarry like foreign students. The episode emphasizes the significance of being watchful for internet fraud and maintaining open lines of contact with relatives, family, and friends. 

After the growing concern about cyber kidnapping, it is important for everyone to exercise caution and good online hygiene. There are some important methods that are stated below that can be used to exercise caution to prevent any sort of cyber crime. 

1. Online conduct might be monitored by scammers to get personal information about you and modify their threats accordingly. It is important to steer clear of strangers’ friend requests and publish only relevant information publicly.
2. With regards to possible scamming cases, any unexpected calls, emails, or texts suggesting that you or your loved ones are in immediate danger should be taken seriously. To make their threats seem real, scammers frequently pose as trustworthy people or government representatives. Under these circumstances, it is important to keep common secret pass codes or code words amongst family members, especially in this time and age of revolutionary generative AI that can dupe and familarise voices. 
3. The users need to choose complicated password combinations, including capital and lowercase letters, digits, and symbols, instead of using the same ones for all of their accounts. To safely keep track of your credentials, use password managers. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) to increase security. When you try to log in, this feature requires a second code, which is often sent to your phone.
4. Talk to your family and friends on a regular basis about your internet activity and report any strange interactions you may have had. Transparent communication can aid in the early detection of fraud. You and your family members must know about typical strategies and schemes used in cyber kidnapping by reading reputable publications, instructional websites, or even official law enforcement warnings.
5. Notify authorities of any suspicious activity. Report any threatening texts you receive or allegations that you are being attacked to cybercrime reporting sites or law enforcement right away. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal is a resource for reporting cybercrime in India. The Indian government launched this platform to make it easier for victims and complainants to file online reports of cybercrimes. The national hotline for cybercrime is 1930. If you become a victim of financial fraud, you can contact this number by providing the required information, which includes your name, contact details, account number, and account details of the account to which the funds were moved.

Author: Riya Soni
Riya embraces a stoic mindset and is known for her receptive nature. Her interests lie in the domain of geo-politics and performing arts.

Edited By: Apoorva Mehta