Getting a call saying a family member has been kidnapped is terrifying. Fear and panic take over, making it hard to think clearly. That’s exactly what criminals count on when they use a scam called virtual kidnapping.
What is virtual kidnapping?
It’s emotional extortion where scammers claim a loved one has been abducted and demand ransom. Using AI-generated voices, social media details, and spoofed caller IDs, they make threats seem real and pressure victims to act quickly before verifying the truth.
Real-life cases
In Arizona, a mother received a call and heard what sounded exactly like her 15-year-old daughter crying for help. The caller demanded a $1 million ransom. Though she quickly confirmed her daughter was safe, the fear was very real. That incident led to testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about the risks of criminals using AI.
Another case involved a Chinese exchange student in Utah. Scammers manipulated him into isolating himself in rural Utah, where he was later found cold and frightened. They made him take a photo that looked like he’d been kidnapped and used it to demand $80,000 from his family.
These cases show how far scammers are willing to go, and how tools like AI make their schemes even more believable.
How AI and social media fuel the scam
AI being used for illegal activities has become part of our everyday reality. Deepfakes and voice cloning now look and sound incredibly real, and are so convincing that they can trick even close family members.
According to McAfee, only 27% of people feel confident they could distinguish between a real call from a loved one and an AI-generated imitation.
Where do criminals get all this information? Mostly fom social media. Even though people are constantly warned to be careful about what they share online, most still don’t realize the risks. Seemingly harmless details, like a pet’s name or a vacation location, can be incredibly valuable to criminals.
Each of those bits of information can help build a profile and craft a convincing story that could later be used for extortion. To reduce your risk, keep your accounts private and avoid accepting friend or follower requests from people you don’t know.
“Bad actors now have access to powerful tools that weren’t previously available, leveraging AI-driven compute power to gather intelligence at scale,” said Arun Shrestha, CEO at BeyondID.
Your voice can be used against you
Your voice is easier to copy than you might think. With just a few seconds of audio, often pulled from a social media post, scammers can use AI tools to create fake voice recordings that sound convincing. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram often give them access not only to your voice but also to personal details about your life, habits, and family.
Even short clips of children speaking can be copied and reused. Videos that seem harmless can be misused in ways you wouldn’t expect. It’s one more reason to think twice before you post online.
In these scams, attackers may use voice changers to sound more threatening and combine them with fake audio that mimics your loved one. This makes the situation feel more believable and urgent.
Virtual kidnapping scams: Steps to stay secure
If you receive a suspicious call involving a potential kidnapping, follow these steps to assess the situation and protect yourself:
- If the call feels suspicious, hang up immediately. Don’t let fear rush you into a decision.
- Ask questions only your loved one would know the answer to. This helps verify who you’re really talking to.
- Try to reach your family member using another phone or social media. Don’t rely solely on the caller’s word.
- Keep calm and don’t share any personal information with the caller. Stay focused and don’t give them any advantage.
- Ask the caller to slow down or repeat their demands. This buys you time to think and act.
- Never agree to send money, especially through wire transfers or in person. It’s risky and might put you in danger.
- If something doesn’t feel right, contact the police or local authorities immediately. Prompt reporting can assist in intervention and investigation.
Scams are getting harder to detect
We need to talk about this growing problem and make sure parents realize these scams are popping up more and more. Technology has advanced so much that these scams are now easy to carry out and hard to detect. Even experts sometimes struggle to tell the difference between real and AI-generated videos or voices. That alone shows how serious the problem is and that it’s likely to get worse.
