NCJ Number
97190
Date Published
1983
Length
44 pages
Annotation
To help officers, directors, and employees of financial institutions and their families, this booklet explains kidnapping and extortions.
Abstract
It discusses extortion setups; provides guidelines for handling and verifying a kidnap extortion telephone call; and outlines personal and family security precautions that may deter, detect, or prevent a kidnapping. The first section defines the terms kidnap and extortion and considers the perpetrator's goals in the effort to outwit, con, and swindle the victim. A subsequent section describes some of the common methods of preventing the victim and the supposed hostage from communicating with each other -- the telephone repair scam, harassing or obscene telephone calls, physical interruption of telephone communication, and luring the supposed hostage away from a specific location. It also identifies appropriate security measures to take. To determine the true nature of a threatening kidnap-type phone call, the booklet advises that the less time the caller gives, the higher the probability that the call is a hoax. The suggested guidelines to follow in handling a kidnap extortion telephone call include documenting the details of the call, attempting to make the caller prove the hostage claim, and adopting disbelieving or cooperative attitudes. The suggestions for verifying a threatening call include procedures to locate the supposed hostage and the use of an emergency preparedness profile system to record essential employee and family information. Recommended precautions cover residential and procedural security, security procedures with respect to children and travel, and personal security at the financial institution. For related document, see NCJ-97199.