Phone Extortion

[Fusilado Kent]

First I'd like to say the site is great Bill, and I regret not registering till now, especially since my first post is somewhat grim. With the recent assualts between Sangre de Cristo and the Presa, general terror mongering of the US media, and very real issues plaguing the country right now I don't want to add to some sort of pessimistic chicken little view of GTO getting unsafe. I do want to know if anyone else, especially long-time residents, have experienced something similar.

A couple of months a ago I recieved a phone call from a man identifying himself as a officer in the Zetas. He had my name and phone number (which of course anyone with a phone book could have) and informed me that several carloads of armed men were on their way to my house. He said I could pay for protection, I don't recall the amount. The whole time I gave the impression that my spanish was not up to snuff (which given the speed he was talking was actually true). I also told him I didn't have the money (also true) and eventually hung up. When I looked up info about this on the net, it seemed to match pretty well with the scams run out of prisons here, but without the kidnapping element. I was shaken, but after talking to a friend in the government eventually decided it was a fluke.

Then today this afternoon I once more got a phone asking for me by name. This time when I flubbed my Spanish the caller spoke in English and asked me if I had heard of reports that armed men in 4 trucks were on my street. I told him no and said I had to go to work before hanging up. He tried calling back from a private number three more times.

I know these sorts of things have typically excluded foreigners unless they have been invloved in the drug trade, have Mexican familes, or have been just spectacularly unlucky. But needless to say I'm a bit shakin by the whole thing and am wondering what peoples thoughts are on whether I'm taking this too lightly or too seriously.

On a side note of bad timing my girlfriends dad had just arrived when the first phonecall came, and her mom is here visiting now. Just what I need while trying to explain how safe this city is...

[kasugie]

I received a similar set of calls a few months back. In this case the caller (from Queretaro, from the CallerID) spoke English, but was not really demanding or asking for anything, other than trying to pry information about me. He obviously got my name from the phone book, as he pronounced it backwards.

The first time I was a bit shaken. The second time, I asked the caller to identify himself, which of course he didn't. I then asked him to hang on the line while the Ministerio Publico traced the call. He quickly disconnected, and I haven't heard from him since.

[mr bill]

Hi Kent,

Thanks for joining www.gtolist.com by far the largest and most active expat community forum for Guanajuato.

Like Kasugie I had a call some several weeks back. It was was someone who had my name [including middle name] which they were mangling over and over again [not my middle name but last name]. There seemed to be two voices, the caller and someone in the background and it all seemed kind of a joke to them. After 30-45 seconds of their nonsense I hung up and I have not had more calls.

Phone extortion scams are common and have been around for quite a while. A few years ago the family of the wife of one of our mutual friends got a call from the "Aduana at BJX". It seems that one son who was flying in from the US where he lives and works legally was detained because he had over $10,000 in cash on him. It was explained that it was not a crime to have that much money but it was a delito not to declare it. The 'Aduana' officers said they could help expedite his release if a deposit [20k MN] was made to their bank account. The family was hysteric- reason and rational thinking were thrown aside. Two of the daughters have university degrees - one is a practicing attorney. The money was paid.

What didn't happen in this chain of events was to ask a few questions/to make a few calls. Was the son expected to be coming to Mexico on that day? If if were even a 'surprise visit' wouldn't he have had the time after checking in 2 hours in advance to make a call home or send an e-mail? Would he be someone who typically travels around with $10k in his pocket? And did the family do the first sensible thing and call the son at his US home or work number to see if he'd answer?
Hysteria ruled - the money was paid - the son it was later learned was still back in the US and not in custody here.

I'll write later on the "My 8 mo. pregnant wife took a fall and lost the baby and I need 800 pesos for the casket" scam. Which I have personal experience with.

[charlesandterri]

This same sort of thing happened to our Mexican neighbors a year or so ago...it involved the threat to kidnap an offspring. It was so generalized, it was clear that the callers had no real specific information about their family,
On a happier note. This morning our doorbell rang at about 8:00. One of our neighbor's was bringing us a set of our house keys which the maid must have dropped when she left yesterday afternoon. My husband didn't find out exactly when or where she found them but I can only guess that they laid outside our house all night. In California I would never have seen those keys again and would probably have ended up spending a lot of money changing all of our locks.
My personal view of the extortion phone calls is that there are bad guys out there willing to exploit the fear of narco traficantes like the Zetas in order to make some quick money. It is the latest version of dialling for dinero. If you call enough people someone will eventually be scared enough and foolish enough to pay.
I think the threat of tracing the call was a great idea.

[Fusilado Kent]

Thanks everyone, I'm not really an alarmist sort of fellow, and your responses have been mellowing.

[GTOROCKS RACING TEAM]

Things are tough are over right now, especially on the borders
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39637621
Prayers go out to the affected :angel:

Here are some easy to follow steps to avoid a phone extortion:

1) Have a mexican friend leave a message on your Telmex voicemail or answering machine incoming message, that way it sounds like a native lives there. Even better if the person is from central or south america.

2) Dont publicate your name on the Telmex Phone Book. If you have to use a thrid party mexican friend.

3) Place a sign that says FAMILIA GARCIA or some other mexican name, dont put FAMILY SMITH outside your home.

4) Dont use your real address on your Telcel registration. Dont even register it, all this info is easily available.

5) Dont answer unknown phone numbers, spread the word to your friends, and if someone calls you from a NEXTEL which shows up as a 669 area code or Private, tell them to call you 3 times in a row, that way you know its something urgent or your buddy calling. Most telemarkerting call centers also use the Private ID, so its best not to answer. But they usually only call between 8am -11am 2pm-4pm 7-9pm when they know your at home.

6) Use a Skype or Vonage account with a voip phone or sip phone. And only give your local tel number to people you know. Keep a list of those who have your tel.

7) You can always report the caller or unusal vehicles to this website
http://www.repuve.gob.mx/ciudadania/denu...wDenunciaD

8) Dont post real info anywhere on the net.

Another crazy alternative would be to have a small recorder and playback the jerky boys frank rizzo :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygv0bUw93Tg

[Fusilado Kent]

Well aside from the whole severed head bit it's entirely reassuring...

But seriously the advice on avoiding phone extotion is great, thanks bro.