Scammers Use Fear to Extort Family in Kathmandu: Teen Never in Danger

 

Kathmandu: Mamta Ghimire (name changed) from Chandragiri-8, Matatirtha received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown international number at exactly 12 noon on Tuesday. What she saw and heard after picking up the call left her in shock.

A young man in a police uniform, speaking slurred Nepali mixed with Hindi, made a chilling claim: “Your son is in our custody! He’s involved in a rape case along with others. He may be innocent, but to get him out, you need to send money.”

Panicked, Mamta was asked to share her phone screen and open her bank account. When she did, the caller saw she only had Rs 34. “Deposit 10 lakh rupees immediately! If you contact anyone, your son won’t survive. You only have eight minutes,” he threatened.

To intensify the fear, the caller played what sounded like her son crying and showed part of a jacket that resembled the one he was wearing. Her 16-year-old son, Rohan (name changed), had left home at 8 AM, saying he had to attend a shoot at Putalisadak and by 12:25 PM, his phone was switched off.

Mamta had no way to verify what was happening. The caller kept ringing until 12:24 PM. Convinced something terrible had happened, she informed her husband, a school principal in Dhading, who began rushing to Kathmandu. The family then contacted Thankot police station for help.

Meanwhile, other relatives reached the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office and explained everything. Understanding the urgency, police immediately launched an investigation. A team led by Inspector Bidur Siwakoti reached their house in Matatirtha and began scanning CCTV footage. Another team contacted Pakistani police to trace the international number. Simultaneously, a tech team started tracking the son.

Then came a critical clue. A relative remembered seeing a poster about a free audience pass for the shoot of 'Comedy Darbar' at Star Mall, Putalisadak, the previous day. When Mamta’s 13-year-old daughter also recalled that Rohan had mentioned the same show, police had a lead.

A team rushed to Star Mall. Amid the crowd, they finally spotted Rohan sitting quietly in the last row of the audience, watching the program.

Startled by the sudden appearance of police, Rohan immediately switched on his phone and called his mother. On hearing her son’s voice, Mamta, who had been paralyzed with fear for nearly three hours, broke down in relief.

The family had been trapped in a new form of cybercrime, where scammers create the illusion of a kidnapping to extort money, a tactic known as virtual or cyber kidnapping. The attackers often use fake visuals, sounds, and threats without ever physically contacting the victim.

पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: साउन ७, २०८२ ११:३१

टिप्पणीहरू