Comment by webghost | Hacker News Reader

Comment by webghost | Hacker News Reader

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Hi jdileo,

Get out of the valley and start hitting the south: Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina.

There you will find your target market, specially if your focus is abduction.

Kidnapping rates are soaring high and there is need for something like this.

I'm currently working on something similar. I've been a victim of crime several times. I can appreciate the value of what you are trying to accomplish (that's my motivator for doing something like it)

I don't know if you are aware of the Express Kidnapping modality:

They kidnap you for several hours, ask for smaller amounts and hopefully will let you go. They do this several times a day. Some bands have large places (sometimes high end apartments, were they hold the people while the family pay the ransom. Maybe 30 or 40 people at a time. You have all sorts of amenities like Wii, Xbox, etc. But most of the time you are tied up and blindfolded)

Get out of the valley, but be careful. If you are not from around it can be tough.

Drop me a line if you like. I live in South America and we can chat a bit if you are interested.

And just to show you the creativity of these criminals

Instead of actually kidnaping you, this is what they do:

They present them selfs as serious businesses and strike (legitimate) deals with independent movie theaters. The movie theater agrees to let them place a stand on the outside to promote product "X".

When you are about to go in, they tell you if you would like a free sample or something like that. If you agree all you have to do is give out your name and your mobile number and your home phone number. They make the process seem very standard.

Once you go inside the movie theater you are constantly reminded to either turn of your cell phone or to put it in silence or vibrator mode for the movie, most people do.

After the movie starts, the criminals, start calling to your house and tell anyone that picks up the phone, that they have kidnapped you (they know your name, what you look like, what you were wearing, who you were with, etc) and that the family has one hour to deliver an small amount of cash if they want the person to be released. Most of the time, the families call the "victim" but since they are in the movies, generally people don't pick up the phone. So the family immediately assumes the call is for real.

You would not believe the amount of people that have been scammed like that. Is truly amazing.

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