A Chinese foreign exchange student was found alive in a tent in rural Utah after he went missing Thursday following a “cyber kidnapping” scheme that targeted his parents.
Kai Zhuang, 17, was found in a tent in the Utah wilderness, alive but “cold and scared,” after the teen was reported missing from his high school in Riverdale, Utah, on Thursday, police said. His parents in China told officials that they were extorted for $80,000 in what officials called a “cyber kidnapping” scheme.
According to police, the scheme involves “kidnappers” threatening a victim’s family in order to coerce the victim into isolating himself and providing photographs staged to look as though the victim is being held captive. Those photographs are then sent to family members who are expected to pay for the “release” of their relatives. Cyber kidnappers frequently target foreign exchange students, especially those from China, police noted, citing conversations with the FBI, Chinese officials and the U.S. embassy in China.
Police said they believe Kai was being controlled by kidnappers as early as Dec. 20, when he was spotted by officers in Provo carrying camping equipment, BBC reported. The officers returned him to his host family in Riverdale at the time, but he did not tell them about any threats he had received.
Kai’s parents paid around $80,000 in ransom to Chinese bank accounts after receiving a photo in which Kai appeared to have been abducted, according to police. (RELATED: Video Shows Police Officers Rescuing Baby After Kidnapping)
The FBI defines cyber or “virtual kidnapping” scams as those in which no actual kidnapping occurs, but victims and their families are extorted through cold calls and other means. “When an unsuspecting person answered the phone, they would hear a female screaming, ‘Help me!’ The screamer’s voice was likely a recording. Instinctively, the victim might blurt out his or her child’s name,” the FBI explains on its website.
Once the “kidnapper” knows the name of a child or potential victim, they can use that name to continue the scam.
All families should come up with a code word to avoid being duped, the FBI advises.