LOS ANGELES - A Chinese exchange student, who fell victim to a “cyber kidnapping” scam in which his parents were extorted for US$80,000 (S$106,000), was found alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, US police said.
Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing on Dec 28, 2023, after his parents in China told officials at his host high school in Riverdale, Utah, that he appeared to have been kidnapped, and a ransom had been requested.
The case followed a typical pattern for cyber kidnapping, in which “kidnappers” tell victims to isolate and provide pictures of themselves as if being held captive – photographs that are then sent to the victims’ family to extort a payment. The victims comply under the belief that their family will otherwise be harmed.
After analysing bank records, purchases and phone ping records in a days-long search, the police became convinced that the teenager was isolating in a tent some 40km north in a large area near Brigham City.
“Due to the cold weather in Utah this time of year, we became additionally concerned for the victim’s safety in that he may freeze to death overnight,” the Riverdale Police Department said in a press release after Kai was found on Dec 31.
A sergeant hiking on foot up a mountainside discovered 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, which had paid US$80,000 to bank accounts in China during the scam, according to the 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 on the day of his disappearance.
Riverdale police worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US embassy in China and Chinese officials to find Kai, 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 telecommunications and online fraud”, said a spokesperson.
Cyber kidnappers have been targeting foreign exchange students recently, in particular Chinese foreign exchange students, Riverdale police said. AFP
