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Manuel Dexterity

Jan 12, 2010, 2:03 PM

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Extortion/Threatening calls

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Up until a few weeks ago my daughter and husband lived in Mexico City. They will be relocating overseas in another few weeks and in the meantime decided to relax for awhile at our home on the Jalisco coast.

This morning her cel phone rang, mind you the cel has a Mexico City number. The caller immediately warned her to not hang up or they would kill her family members. In the background a person was heard crying "don't kill me, please don't kill me!". In order for them to not harm her family they wanted to negotiate a sum of money.

My hija is nobody's fool and knew they had more or less randomly dialed her number and didn't have a clue to her identity. They had no way of knowing she was not in the DF nor that she had no family there and least of all she was sitting under a palapa at the Jalisco beach at the time.

When the caller began to repeat the threats she told him to put the pathetic "victim" on the phone! The bad guy repeated the threats with more vehemence and my daughter hung up.

This is a common scam. They usually try to get the victim to deposit money in a bank account. Unfortunately even though the great majority of the people who recieve these calls don't pay they can be quite shaken by the experience.

It is highly unlikely that foriegners will get a call of this nature but if you do just hang up.

Rolly

Jan 12, 2010, 2:15 PM

Post #2 of 13 (5611 views)

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Re: [Manuel Dexterity] Extortion/Threatening calls

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This seems to be a popular scam in Lerdo. A couple of friends have gotten such calls, and they say they know several more who have been called. One friend was able to trace the call to a local prison. No one has paid or been harmed.

Rolly Pirate

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Zorba

Jan 12, 2010, 4:05 PM

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Re: [Rolly] Extortion/Threatening calls

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I despise these people who threaten families. It is the lowest of the low. They are scum and should be executed without trial. I would find it very hard not to challenge these sons of bitches to a meet up somewhere, so I could personally take care of the matter.

La Isla

Jan 12, 2010, 4:56 PM

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Re: [Rolly] Extortion/Threatening calls

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In Reply To

I've read that the majority of these calls do come from prisons, from cell phones the inmates are not allowed to have.

MazDee

Jan 12, 2010, 7:33 PM

Post #5 of 13 (5499 views)

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Re: [La Isla] Extortion/Threatening calls

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So they can buy their way out? Interesting. Haven't heard of this happening here.

Papirex

Jan 12, 2010, 10:23 PM

Post #6 of 13 (5469 views)

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Re: [Manuel Dexterity] Extortion/Threatening calls

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There have been quite a few of those scam calls here in Cuernavaca, Tepotztlan, and México City, probably in many other places too. It is generally believed that the callers simply get the numbers from the white pages of the telephone book.

Two or three years ago our next door neighbor got a call and the caller claimed he had kidnapped a close relative and demanded money to not kill him. That is a common tactic, falsely claiming to have kidnapped someone and demanding a ransom. It scared the hell out of her and she immediately started trying to raise the money demanded.

She finally had the inspiration to call her relative, and it turned out that he was safe and had not been kidnapped. Since the caller did have some knowledge about her family, it is prudent not to talk to too many people about your family or close relationships.

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

babycakes

Jan 14, 2010, 10:34 AM

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Re: [Manuel Dexterity] Extortion/Threatening calls

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This has happened twice to my husbands family. It got a little more in depth both times than the rather "generic" threat you got.
One call was about holding my BIL hostage when he was in middle school. They said that they grabbed him walking home from school or something I dont remember the details.. what is important is that they did have some real facts about him but my husband's family was able to call him- or the school or someone- to verify that he was where he was suppose to be and indeed not abducted.
Another call happened to my husband. The would be scammers called his aunt demanding ransom money and the story was something like my husband just got back from the States with $3000 dollars in cash and he was trying to convert it into pesos when they grabbed him. The truth to this is during that year he had just gotten his tourist visa and had been making a few trips (But NOT with that kind of money in hand lol!). It kinda freaks me out that they do have some facts to base their lie around.
On that note-- there has been a few times I have been called- they were looking for my mother in law. She wouldnt be in- and then they'd start asking me questions like who I am and how I am related to her. Id just tell them "Es mi asunto" and hang up.
Same happened to a friend of mine who was on an exchange here in DF. Someone would call looking for the people that lived there but then start asking her about herself.
So be aware of that.

Reefhound

Jan 14, 2010, 1:50 PM

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Re: [babycakes] Extortion/Threatening calls

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I think if I lived there I just wouldn't answer the phone. They can leave a message and if it's someone I know, I'll pick up or return the call.

Hound Dog

Jan 14, 2010, 5:56 PM

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Re: [Manuel Dexterity] Extortion/Threatening calls

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I have heard of two such cases in Ajijic as well.Both families reported the calls to the police. They changed their phone numbers, got alarms and take and pick-up their grand chidren from school.

Judy in Ags

Jan 15, 2010, 9:34 AM

Post #10 of 13 (5131 views)

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Re: [Manuel Dexterity] Extortion/Threatening calls

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About 13 months ago (we never did write about it here on MC) we received such a threatening call one morning. The guy was talking so fast at first that John couldn't understand him (he does well with Spanish), so a second party came on the phone and asked John if he wanted to handle this situation peacefully or violently. When John realized that this was a kidnapping threat (the person knew both John's name and his brother's name--the brother doesn't live in Mexico yet, but is building a house across from ours), John began to give him the Gospel message, ending with the statement that one day the caller would have to stand before God and answer for his terrible actions. The guy hung up! This was the same week we came home during the day to find three young adults leaving our yard (a third was the driver out in the car in front). They feigned they were searching for cocks to buy. When we got into the house we found the front door open (frame broken). They broke into brother-in-law's place twice within a few weeks. Since then, of course, we have taken many additional security measures and have had no further break-ins or attempts. We have to admit, though, that it is unsettling when those callers know one's name. We also have several friends who have received such calls, but not lately.

lostinmex

Jan 24, 2010, 4:40 PM

Post #11 of 13 (4860 views)

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Re: [Manuel Dexterity] Extortion/Threatening calls

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My Mexican sister-in-law received such a call on her cell phone two weeks ago. She hung up the phone.

What I find remarkable is that when these people demand money they give a bank account number to deposit the money to. Seems like it would be easy to catch them through the bank account.

chinagringo

Jan 24, 2010, 4:54 PM

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Re: [lostinmex] Extortion/Threatening calls

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Your assumption would be quite true in a country with police more oriented to investigation and without banking laws that provide some secrecy.
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

lostinmex

Jan 24, 2010, 4:58 PM

Post #13 of 13 (4854 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] Extortion/Threatening calls

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I suspect that an exception to bank secrecy laws could be made for criminal behavior,such as extortion. There might already be such an exception now,I don't know. But if a way could be found to block access to funds in such an account it might help reduce the number of extortion calls.