Social media lit up last night when news went out that three Belizeans youths had been abducted in Chetumal after the hopped into an Uber.
Well, it turns out, those three: twenty-four-year-old Yaire Mendez, eighteen-year-old Jesslyn Mendez, and twenty-five-year-old Marvin Rosales, were only the victims of a virtual extortion attempt that falsely claimed they had been kidnapped. They are safe at home tonight after being reunited with their families after midnight.
According to the Quintana Roo State Attorney General's Office, the three became victims of a virtual kidnapping scheme after receiving threatening phone calls shortly after leaving a family member's graduation.
The scammers demanded 350,000 Mexican pesos, the equivalent 40 thousand Belize Dollars, for their supposed release, claiming an armed group had intercepted them.
Investigators later determined the criminals had cloned the daughter's WhatsApp account, allowing them to communicate with her father from another device and make the situation appear real.
The suspects also remotely forced the youths to take photos and then sent the images to the family to support the false kidnapping claim. Authorities managed to contact the father around midnight and informed him that it was a virtual extortion attempt, advising him to stop communicating with the suspects and not to send any money.
A search operation was then launched and the three Belizeans were subsequently located safe.
The Attorney General's Office in Mexico is urging the public not to respond to suspicious calls demanding money for the release of relatives and to immediately contact authorities if they believe they are being targeted by a virtual kidnapping scam.
