Kidnapping down but extortion up

caslug says on Jan 17, 2005, 17:14:

i also read about something like in mexico.. apparently it's alot "better" crime for criminals, less likely to get caught. I article i read about mexico was similar, criminals would call and give you a detail account of the whereabouts of your love ones, just to show that they were there and can easily snatch someone.

Talk about dailing for dollars! LOL!

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Miguel says on Jan 17, 2005, 19:37:

Tienes Razon GIB Now that was a good perspective!

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pink_lotus says on Jan 17, 2005, 20:10:

It's happening to me right now :( Well I am a victim of ESCATLY THIS!

The docotrs who I have pressed criminal charges have called my son;s school in Bogota and even called my 80 year old grandmother in South Carolina.
I suppose they want me to drop the criminal charges with the Fiscalia becasue they are both going to jail and are going to loose there license.

As an American I find it a little bit scary but mostly annoying that they would even dare cross that line and bring my child into this.

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 17, 2005, 20:37:

A very curious question.....?? If you don't have a phone, they how can they call you? Seriously, if you have a home phone number, I'm assuming it's listed with Telecom.
But, if you have a cell phone, it's not listed.

So who exactly are these people that they have so much knowledge about your kids, their ages, where they go to school etc. For example, I have married friends, now I know a little about their kids, but I don't know what grade they are in, and I defintely don't know what school they go to.

I am not doubting the veracity of what has been said. I just want to know the mechanics or Proceduaral aspects as to how how this comes about.

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Lionheart says on Jan 17, 2005, 20:46:

they work like private investigators they observe every move you make, often frequently swapping out the observer, they take many photos of you, register your habits, register all people you have contact with, etc.

it isn't that hard to access your private information once they have your basic data. they can steal your mail from your mailbox for example. your bills tell all they need to know. they can call numbers they find there using your data to obtain even more information, and also call the schools, who are not trained to not reveal information.

if you are dealing with professionals you are dealing with people who use spy electronics to listen to your phone calls, register your phone numbers, and much more.

it is easy for them to get all they want to know about you.

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 17, 2005, 21:28:

Thanks Lionheart.....Huh?? Should I be surprised?? Unbelievable. Just when I think things really are starting to get better, I read the article this morning. I don't know what to say, except,,,, I am sick of this crap. This nonsense has got to come to an end.I mean it.

A country simply cannot be held hostage by it's own bastard children. Something has got to change this situation. I just know whether to be angered or sad. I'm both. Oh well.

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pink_lotus says on Jan 17, 2005, 21:28:

It's not brain science lionheart is right!

In my case they have my numbers because on my consent for operation I put down emergency contact numbers and where I live.

Trust me it so cheap to scope someone out. All you have to do is bribe someone at telecom to get a number....
It's also so cheap to pay someone to follow you every move...the bus that picks you child up to school in the morning. Peeople for 40 mil pesos a day are willing to do that!

It's not brain science.

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 17, 2005, 21:57:

Well...I'm not really naive...I just keeping telling myself That sooner or later this stuff is going to end. It looks like it's going to be later....much later as opposed to sooner.

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Lionheart says on Jan 17, 2005, 22:37:

I forgot to mention the main source for your private information: your garbage can or dumpster. All they have to do is steal your garbage bags after you toss them, tons of information in there. Or when you go to clean your car ... all those little receipts and other papers wander into a more or less public garbage can. Or at work ... if you have a small company they take your garbage, if you work in a big office, one of the cleaners will empty your trash into a special bag which will be picked up ... do you remember what you wrote on all those post-it notes?

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miamimike says on Jan 17, 2005, 22:52:

Lionhart--you have to wonder where you are safe?? I hate to read these articles yet you have to in this day and age. I've stayed in Bogota many times without problems but you wonder when your "number" is up. You wonder about the securityMen at various hotels-like are they beyond giving your name and room number to one of these gangs for a few bucks and causing problems as mentioned in the above post??. Something to ponder for sure.....

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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Lionheart says on Jan 17, 2005, 23:23:

precautions The information I posted is not based on Colombian information gathering. It is based on how investigators and criminals operate world-wide, also in the USA. Just because the reported extortion here is happening in Colombia doesn't mean they don't use the same methods for information gathering as elsewhere.

But since the risk in Colombia is growing, as in a few other nations, once you are informed on how they get their data, you can take many precautions. Be careful what you throw away in normal garbage cans. Use a P.O.Box instead of a mail box, although also not 100% safe. Use several prepaid cell phones and change phones frequently using different carriers, rotate them randomly. Dump regular land-line phones if possible. I have heard that you can request # changes from your phone company in Colombia easily. Change your pattern of moving about frequently. Using different bus lines and taxi companies makes tracking harder. Use different ATMs and different public buildings when possible, like different bank branch offices. If you use public computers, make sure none of your data is saved or recorded. If in doubt how to check that, don't use them.

I don't want to sound paranoid here, but since cases of extortion and blackmailing are mentioned here, I wanted to give some ideas on what to think about. For those with a possible risk I recommend to sit down and create a worst-case-scenario on paper and figure out where your weakest areas for information gathering are.

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umm says on Jan 17, 2005, 23:38:

Actually I never had any problems, not in Bogota, and not at home in Santa Marta.
Maybe its just because I always look poor but happy juajuajua
I anyway doubt people can follw me in Bogota. It is so easy to lose people, especially when you take public transport.
If someone dislikes you then you are nowhere really safe, not in Colombia and not in Vatican City.
I always watch out for the black hell-o-copters, maybe the gringos send them to get rid of me because I complain too much about them. jejejeje

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miamimike says on Jan 18, 2005, 00:07:

Identity Theft-as common in Colombia as it is Miami?? Here in Miami we have LOTS of idenity theft--I see amny neighbors in my condo throwing those countless credit card applications in the wastebasket without shredding them up. Major Mistake!! Tear 'em up in little pieces or shred'em. Another problem here also is at some of our post office boxes-the kind that they have outside of post offices for after hour use. A year or so ago I went to drop some bills off in the box and when I went to drop the letters in I never heard 'em hit bottom. Upon investigating I discovered someone had blocked the chute with balled up newspaper thereby only allowing the letters to fall down maybe 6" or so-these theives probably show up every hour or so in the wee hours to retreive thess letters--easily accomplished by merely by sticking your hand a few inches into the chute and grabbing all the blocked letters. The night it happened to me-there were about 50 letters blocked this way. These con artists then get the letters-if they have checks-they "wash" em in a dry cleaning type liquid and new amounts are written in--theres no end to scams and what these crooks will think of next is there?? Some of these trusting folks would be in a world of trouble in Colombia !!

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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umm says on Jan 18, 2005, 04:11:

See! Thats what I say. Colombia is not really dangerous. The USA is dangerous. Thats why I dont like to go there, and at the US border they make more fuss than at the Zimbabwean border.
USA, no thanks. Not for me.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Jan 18, 2005, 08:15:

Re. Phones I say avoid landline usage like the plague. A month after I arrived I picked up the phone and it was someone asking for the previous tenant. I said she was no longer there. He heard my foreign accent and immediately launched into this spiel about how he was from the DAS agency that was mandated with taking care of foreigners. He already had my street address because that's essentially part of caller ID here and can't be blocked and started asking me personal questions.

I hung up on him and told my family and my nanny to NEVER give out any personal info to anyone who calls. Since the phone and utilities are in the landlord's name, that makes it pretty hard to do the phone extortion thing .

I also generally give erroneous addresses and phone #s on forms (like facturas) where they have no legitimate reason to ask.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Jan 18, 2005, 09:49:

To clarify I'm confident that this guy was NOT from the DAS and was simply using that as a ruse to get me to cough up my name, my family members' names, nationality, etc. Which, of course, is all it takes to make a phone call extorting some money.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Jan 18, 2005, 10:16:

That's my attitude Exactly, if anyone wants to claim to me that they're DAS, or police or whatever, they can work long and hard proving it to me. The cops in Colombia understand skepticism as well as anyone.

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 18, 2005, 14:53:

Frankly...nothing could convince me on the street. Look, DAS has better thing to do than walking up and down the 15 for example, introducing themselves as DAS.. For what purpose? It's one thing if you are in an official government building or the airport or some place of that nature. But DAS, walking on the street, and just picking me our out of 100s of people??? Forget it. The first and only thing I would think is that someone from my hotel, with my credit card info, got paid to notify others of my presesne. (They would know I'm gringo from the credit card...if not from my Spanish)These others then staked me out, waiting for the opportunity to grab me.

It's one thing if they are doing a sweep and they are checking everybody in a club, or on the street. It's another thing for them to just come up to me on the street, for no reason when I know that I have done nothing wrong. I would tell them to ....kiss my you know what!! And if they really were DAS, they would understand my reluctance to cooperate.

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