Apparently it doesn’t take much to get people to rush out and pay ransom for kidnapped relatives, as some ingenious crooks in Colombia are learning.

First, they call somebody with a cell phone, claiming to be a telephone operator, and tell the user his phone is being cloned and that he should protectively turn it off. Then, they call his family, say they have kidnapped him, and demand a ransom payment immediately. The family calls the “victim,” gets no reply, assumes the claim is authentic, and forks over some cash.

Authorities are trying to thwart this scam, which of course isn’t fair to real hard-working kidnappers. Remember, as the potential relative of a victim, you don’t have to believe every threat. You can demand that the kidnappers send you a recognizable limb of the victim before you pay up. Don’t pay for anything less, it’s just good consumer sense! Here’s the story:

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Members of “Gaula” anti-kidnapping police unit free a civilian during a
training operation near Medellin, Colombia, in a 2002 photo. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz