LOS ANGELES: Police in Utah found a Chinese exchange student, Kai Zhuang, who had been a victim of a cyber kidnapping scam in which his parents were extorted for US$80,000 (RM368,280). Kai was discovered alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, police reported.
Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing on Dec 28 after his parents in China notified his host high school in Riverdale, Utah that he seemed to have been kidnapped and a ransom had been demanded.
The case followed the typical pattern for cyber kidnapping, where “kidnappers” instruct a victim to isolate and provide photos of themselves as if they were being held captive. These photos are then sent to the victim’s family to extort a payment. The victims comply under the belief that their family will otherwise be harmed.
After examining bank records, purchases, and phone ping records during a days-long search, police believed that he was isolating in a tent roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of a large area near Brigham City.
“Due to the cold weather in Utah this time of year, we became very concerned for the victim’s safety in that he may freeze to death overnight,” the Riverdale Police Department said in a press release after he was found Sunday.
A sergeant hiking on foot up a mountainside found Kai’s tent – which had no heat source but only “a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water, and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber kidnapping,” the department said.
The detective “contacted the victim inside the tent and found he was alive but very cold and scared.” After being rescued, Kai “requested a warm cheeseburger” and to speak to his family, who had paid US$80,000 (RM368,280) to bank accounts in China during the scam, according to Riverdale police.
Kai’s host family in Riverdale had initially been unaware he was missing, having heard him in the kitchen in the early morning the day of his disappearance.
Riverdale police worked with the FBI, the US embassy in China, and Chinese officials to find the missing teenager, according to the press release.
The Chinese embassy in Washington warned its citizens living in the United States to “boost safety awareness, take necessary precautions, and stay vigilant against ‘virtual kidnapping’ and other forms of telecom and online fraud,” a spokesperson said.
Cyber kidnappers have been targeting foreign exchange students recently, and in particular, Chinese foreign exchange students, Riverdale police said. – AFP
