Types of kidnappings

By far the most common form of kidnapping, this can be accomplished in most parts of the world with minimal preparation and a relatively low risk of failure. Kidnappers will generally target local businessmen or their families: those regarded as being “well-off,” but without sufficient resources to spend a great deal of money on security precautions. The kidnappers’ goal is a fast, easy payoff. Generally, the ransoms requested are relatively easy for the victim’s family or company to obtain.

This is the most cinematically popular form of kidnapping. Generally, the intended target is studied for some time prior to the actual kidnapping, allowing the perpetrators to gather intelligence on security procedures and personal habits. After the victim has been taken, his or her family or employer is contacted with the ransom demand. Generally, a negotiation process occurs. Because most of these incidents are perpetrated by experienced kidnapping gangs, the victim is generally released if the ransom is paid. As high-net-worth individuals become increasingly security-conscious, this type of kidnapping has been on the decline in recent years, in favor of less involved kidnappings with smaller but easier-to-obtain payoffs.

A crime in which a hostage is taken in order to force the victim to commit or assist in a theft. The hostage or hostages are held until the victim has met the demands of the criminals. All of the victims work in locations where cash is handled, such as banks, post offices, currency exchange firms, etc.

The victim is abducted, then forced to withdraw their own ransom from a bank or ATM. If all goes well, the victim is released afterward, generally after having been relieved of all valuables on their person (and occasionally in their residence). This type of kidnapping is popular in urban areas because of the prevalence of ATMs. In some cases, this can develop into a standard kidnapping, with further ransom demanded of the family or employer. In other cases, the victim is held overnight to get around a one-day withdrawal limit.

A virtual kidnapping is more a scam than an actual kidnapping. The perpetrators will wait until their target is unreachable (visiting an area with no cellular coverage, for example), then contact the target’s family or company, claiming they have kidnapped the target and demanding an immediate ransom. The target eventually returns, unaware that anything untoward has occurred. Because of the need for haste, the ransoms demanded are generally relatively modest. Another common technique is to call the target while pretending to be a cellular phone company representative and ask them to turn off their phone for a short while for a technical reason, during which the virtual kidnapping is conducted. Thus far, virtual kidnappings are most common in Latin America, specifically Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

A kidnapping conducted to extort political concessions from governments or security forces. Because a monetary ransom is no longer enough, it is more difficult to negotiate the victim’s freedom, as in many cases the political concessions or demands cannot be met by the governments involved, putting the victim’s life at greater risk.

A form of forced marriage in which the groom-to-be kidnaps his bride. In many cases, the would-be couple has never met until the day of the kidnapping. This form of marriage is practiced in the Caucasus region, Central Asia and some nations in Africa. In many cases, the bride is raped in order to convince her to stay with her husband, because in many traditional cultures the loss of virginity is harshly judged. In some cultures a bride price is customary, so the kidnapper may contact his victim’s family to demand compensation.