The phone call seemed to come from his daughter's kidnapper. But it was all a scam.

There was such a disconnect between the visual cue and the voice on the other end it took Mark Walker a few seconds to gather his thoughts.

The name on his iPhone showed an incoming call from Walker’s daughter, Rachel, but the voice coming out when he answered was that of a manic, excitable man screaming demands for cash and threatening violence. He appeared to have his daughter and her phone.

“He says he’s going to kill my daughter unless I get him $1,000 fast,” Walker, 57, of Noblesville said. “This sudden confusion flushes over you. I knew she was on her way to school to pick up the twins. Could something have happened on the way? I’m thinking a lot of things at once.”

The call lasted two minutes with the man ranting and raving the whole time.  He demanded that Walker go to Walmart and send a money gram for $1,000.

But after about 30 seconds Walker, a private investigator, was able to slow his heart beat and gather his bearings. He asked to talk to his 34-year-old daughter, and the man refused.

“That was the first red flag,” Walker said. Then he had his wife call his daughter from another phone. She promptly answered.

That told Walker he was the victim of a scam, and he was right.

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Virtual kidnapping begins with hackers

The FBI calls the crime "virtual kidnapping." Hackers gain access to mobile phone contact lists and then use phone-disguising technology to appear as if they are calling from the purported kidnapping victim's phone.

FBI Indianapolis Supervisory Special Agent Doug Kasper said the scam is the latest, fright-inducing, evolution of phone and social networking schemes operated by overseas criminal networks.

"This is the next level," Kasper said. "This is a high pressure call that has instant impact. The ability to spoof phone numbers is what makes it so instantly scary."

Kasper said the FBI is continually taking down the networks and their money launderers in the United States but they keep evolving.

"They grow more sophisticated all the time, but on our side is that the consumers are also getting more sophisticated in recognizing them," he said. "The key for the victims is to slow things down, control your emotions."

The FBI doesn't have national statistics on virtual kidnapping because most victims report the crime to local police or don’t report it at all. Because the FBI believes the scam is still prevalent, agents are encouraging the public to report the calls to police or the FBI.

Extortion attempt

Walker said he was suspicious because the extortion requested only $1,000.

“No one is going to kidnap someone for just $1,000,” Walker said. “It’s not worth it.”

Kasper said the low dollar demand "was a telling sign." "Along with requests for Apple cards and things like that," he said.

Walker also said the caller never identified Rachel as his daughter or he as her father. “He kept saying, 'You know Rachel,’” Walker said.

Adding to the confusion, he said, while he was listening to Rachel’s purported kidnapper, Walker got a call from his son who was being extorted on his phone by someone saying he had kidnapped Walker.

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He surmised that the scammers probably rapidly dial dozens of potential victims in one day hoping to get a hit on one. He said he was probably lucky that he was able to reach his daughter.

“That kind of ruins it for the virtual kidnapper, but they probably keep making calls until they find the one that is unable to get ahold of their loved ones and panics,” he said.

Kasper called the trickery a "high volume" scheme that has enough success that to keep going is in the scammers' interest.

Walker said a neighbor in the Pebble Brook subdivision has since contacted him and told him he was the victim of the same scam. In his neighbor's case, the criminals demanded $1,500.

Attempts by IndyStar to reach the neighbor through Walker for comment were  unsuccessful.

Hamilton County Sheriff's spokesman Brant Orem said the office has not received any complaints about virtual kidnapping. But the phone disguising is similar to an ongoing scam in Central Indiana in which callers demand money or private information such as Social Security numbers from people because they purportedly missed jury duty. The incoming calls show that they come from the sheriff''s office or county court offices.

How to spot virtual kidnapping

The FBI offers these suggestions if you think you are the victim of virtual kidnapping:

• Try to get off the phone or use another means of contacting the family member who purportedly has been kidnapped.
• If you are traveling with the purported kidnapping victim but not physically with the person at the time, conduct a welfare check at the person’s residence or hotel.
• While engaging the caller on the phone, have someone call the purported kidnapping victim on a separate phone.
• Ask for “proof of life” and “proof of possession” and request a current photograph of the person. “Proof of possession” can help distinguish actual kidnappings for ransom from virtual kidnappings.
• If the scammer isn't using the purported victim's spoofed phone number, check the caller ID to see whether the caller is dialing from an out-of-state area code that is different from the purported victim’s last known location. Then challenge the caller to dial from a number within the purported victim’s area code and challenge the caller to call from the purported victim’s cellphone.
• Contact the FBI or local law enforcement immediately to report the attempted virtual kidnapping and provide as much information as you can, including the phone number if you have it. Also file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

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