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- Top 10 Overseas Security Trends for the U.S. Private Sector in 2007
According to Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a Federal Advisory Committtee, theft of trade secrets, cyber attacks and 'Home-Grown' Radicalism were among the top security challenges in 2007 facing US businesses, nongovermental organizations and academic institutions operating overseas.
- Gunmen kidnap two Spanish aid workers in Somalia
Gunmen kidnapped two Spanish aid workers with the medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in the north Somalia region of Puntland, their driver and a local official said....Known for its relative stability compared with chaotic south Somalia, Puntland has, however, has become increasingly associated with kidnappings, hijackings and piracy. - From Reuters - 12/26/2007
- KFR syndicates gaining a foothold in Cagayan Valley
Kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) syndicates based in Metro Manila are believed gaining a foothold in the Cagayan Valley region...Since last year, several wealthy individuals, including an Indian trader in Santiago City in Isabela and a Filipino-Chinese businessman in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya have been victimized. - From The Philippine Star - 12/24/2007
- Gunmen kidnap French journalist in north Somalia
Gunmen in Somalia's northern Puntland region kidnapped a French journalist on Sunday, the area's deputy governor said...."I, with the translator, tried to talk to the gunmen who demanded a $70,000 ransom," Omar Ahmed said. - From Reuters - 12/16/2007
- Chadian rebels take US man hostage
An American evangelical Christian aid worker has been captured by Tubu rebels in Tibesti, northern Chad, it was announced Thursday. Cash Steve Goldbold was reportedly abducted on October 10 by the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad. - From AFP - 10/18/2007
- Warden Message: Kenya Kidnapping Threat to American Citizens
U.S. Embassy Nairobi has received information that Islamic extremists in southern Somalia may be planning kidnapping operations inside of Kenya. - From Overseas Security Advisory Council - 09/28/2007
- 4 Red Cross Workers Kidnapped in Afghanistan
Afghan authorities say four International Red Cross employees have been abducted in central Wardak province. - From VOA News - 09/27/2007
- OSAC Global Crime Report 2007
This page provides a link to the Overseas Security Advisory's Crime Report 2007. Included is an item on extortions as well as pieces on Regional Security Practices: Lessons Learned; Drug-Spiking Crimes; and the threat of Lock Picking.
- Oil and Gas Workers Face Increasing Danger
Kidnappings, crimes, political upheaval, piracy and labor-relations disruptions are some of the security issues facing expatriates in Nigeria. The situation is exacerbating the shortage of trained personnel and offering HR leaders and security companies problems in protecting workers. Kevin Rosser, oil and gas practice leader in the London headquarters of Control Risks Group, a security and risk consultancy, says the combination of criminality and political radicalization has generated "chronic insecurity verging on an unmanageable security problem...Workers need to know how to conduct themselves in a hostile environment, what to do if they hear gunfire, if they are in a traffic accident, if they are kidnapped. " - From Human Resource Executive Online - 08/01/2007
- Making corporate contingency plans
According to one such consultant, Control Risks, there is a check-list of seven basic principles that clients should tick or have in place when sending an employee abroad: assessing the risk, briefing the employee, monitoring events, tracking staff, providing 24-hour support, having a contingency plan in place and being able to prove "a demonstrable duty of care." - From Financial Times - 07/08/2007
- A look at some recent developments in Nigeria's restive oil region
An upsurge of militant and criminal activity in southern Nigeria has cut production by about one quarter in Africa's biggest producer. Over 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in the oil-pumping region since December 2005, including over 100 this year alone. Most of those kidnapped are quickly released after ransoms are paid. Here's a look at some recent developments... - From Associated Press - 07/05/2007
- Kidnapped in Mexico
Kidnappers in Mexico play psychological games with victims’ families to extort hefty ransoms. Abductees are pawns, their limbs no less expendable than a stick figure’s in a game of hangman..... Using this border kidnapping as an example, Waugh admonishes American visitors not to be complacent when visiting wealthy friends or family in Mexico. “Americans visiting wealthy Mexicans should be aware that their hosts may be under observation or surveillance by potential kidnappers,” he says. - From San angelo Live - 06/05/2007
- Nigerian Militants Kidnap U.S. Workers
Heavily armed gunmen kidnapped four United States oil workers from a barge off the Nigerian coast near Chevron's Escravos crude export terminal on Wednesday, a U.S. diplomat and Nigerian security sources said. The barge, operated by US contractor Global Industries, was laying pipelines for Chevron at its Okan oilfield. - From Reuters - 05/09/2007
- US, Australia caution travel to Zambo Peninsula, Sulu Philippines
The United States and Australian governments issued new travel advisories warning their citizens to exercise extreme caution when traveling in central and western Mindanao as well as in Sulu. The travel advisories continued to cite terrorism, kidnapping, and counter-terrorism operations in the areas that pose serious threats to safety and security of foreign travelers....(US travel advisory said): "Kidnap for ransom gangs operate in the Philippines. In January 2007, one such gang abducted two (American) children outside their home in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte, in Mindanao. - From Sun Star - 04/30/2007
- Texas Baby Kidnap Suspect Waives Extradition
A woman accused of disguising herself in scrubs and snatching a newborn from a Texas hospital was in custody in New Mexico Monday. - From Foxnews.com - 03/12/2007
- BRAZIL: Epidemic of Fake Kidnappings
"The military police centre of operations in São Paulo received 3,150 reports of fake kidnapping attempts in the first 45 days of the year alone, the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo recently reported. And that is only one small part of the total number of cases, the majority of which are never reported...But the large number of real kidnappings in Brazil gives some credibility to the threats." - From Inter Press Service News Agency - 02/28/2007
- Most Dangerous Destinations 2007
"I wouldn’t say it’s a more dangerous world," says James Smither, global issues manager for Control Risks. "I’d say the risks are changing. Civilians and business travelers are more in the firing line." - From Forbes - 02/01/2007
- Italian Citizen Kidnapped Along Venezuela-Colombia Border
An Italian citizen was kidnapped from his rural Venezuelan estate this week as violent crime in spread in the South American country...Kidnappings have plagued Venezuela's 1,400-mile with Colombia, where violence has been linked to guerrilla and paramilitary groups who use ransom money to fund illegal activities. - From Bloomberg - 01/29/2007
- Dominican Republic police free U.S. kidnap victim
The Dominican National Police have rescued a former U.S. Army officer in a raid that left two of his kidnappers dead... - From Dominican Today - 01/20/2007
- Kidnapping shocks IT industry
The kidnapping of the three-year-old son of the executive of an American technology firm from outside his home in Noida sent shockwaves through India’s IT industry. - From The Financial Express - 11/14/2006
- Nigeria kidnappers demand ransom, fighting subsides
Seven expatriate oil workers abducted in Nigeria are in good health and their kidnappers have demanded a ransom, a diplomat said on Thursday...Kidnappings for ransom are common in the Niger Delta and hostages are usually released unharmed after money changes hands. - From Reuters, 10/05/2006
- News Correspondents Kidnapped in Gaza
The victims tell of kidnap torment before forced conversion to Islam.
- From The Guardian, 8/28/2006
- Internet Extortion Scams
Criminals use networks of compromised computers to flood a company's network with traffic, then ask the company for money to make the attack stop. - From Network World, 8/28/2006
- Experience of American Kidnapped in Haiti
"It was 10 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2005, and Eaton, then 31, and his friend and business partner, Alain Maximilien, had parked in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. They might as well have been wearing targets on their foreheads." - From News & Record - Greensboro, NC
- Militants kidnap 8 foreign oil workers including six Britons, one Canadian and one American while on duty off-shore the Niger Delta. - From Vanguard
- Managing Risk while crossing treacherous borders
"With increasing globalization, the boundaries dividing the business world are getting more and more blurred.... Some of the relatively new risks which are now on the rise are the threats to corporations from kidnapping and extortion which have not only a direct impact on the security of personnel deputed to the risk prone territories, but also an adverse effect on the cash flow of the company." -From Gulf News
- U.S. exec abducted in Tijuana
"A high-level U.S. executive was abducted...after crossing the border. (He) was intercepted about 7 a.m. while driving to his business...No one knows for certain how many people are kidnapped or abducted each year in Tijuana." From San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Family members in the U.S. are kidnap targets
The wife of a Rhode Island real estate investor and radio station owner was allegedly kidnapped and held for $150,000 ransom. From CBS 4 News in Boston, MA.
- Online extortion works
Online extortion is quietly affecting thousands of businesses, for a very simple reason: it works. For example, a Kentucky businessman received an email demanding $10,000; when he refused to pay, his company's website was down for a week. From The Register.
- Fla. man charged with extortion
FBI agents have arrested a Florida man, accusing him of shutting down a North Canton company’s computer system as part of a plot to extort $400,000. Damage.....cost the company "tens of thousands of dollars, easily." From The Repository, Canton, OH.
- Between Iraq and a Hard Place
Today, Iraq is the world's kidnap and ransom capital. With 170 known kidnappings of American and European expatriates in Iraq in the last 12 months, the K&R landscape in Iraq is evolving from political kidnappings to kidnappings for financial gain.
- Terrorists will keep targeting foreigners
Foreigners stand about a 1-in-380 chance of being kidnapped and kidnapping for ransom has been commonly used around the world. Read the full story from The Washington Times
- Frightened families look to S.D. County
Fear of being kidnapped is prompting some of Tijuana's middle-and upper-class families to move across the border to San Diego County neighborhoods where they feel safer.
Construction Workers Kidnapped
Sixty construction company employees, including seven foreigners, were kidnapped by guerrillas in the early hours of 9 June 2003 in a raid on the Tocate construction camp in a jungle area of Ayacucho (La Mar), 600km southeast of Lima. The victims included three police officers and six Colombians and one Chilean. They were working for Argentine firm Techint, constructing a section of pipeline to carry natural gas over the Andes from the Amazon to the Pacific. They were taken by about 20 armed men and women, who said they were members of Maoist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). The attackers seized 2,700 sticks of dynamite and left a note demanding US$1m in ransom, as well as communications equipment and medicines. The victims were released by the guerrillas on 10 June and left in the jungle near the village of Palma Pampa, from where they were picked up by soldiers and police. No ransom was paid.
The Sendero Luminoso were most active in the region in the 1980s, carrying out car bombings and political assassinations and murdering peasants, but have been fairly inactive since the arrest of the group's leader, Abimael Guzman, in 1992. However, a Council for Peace report released in May 2003 estimated that there are still 700 Sendero Luminoso guerrillas operating in the jungles of Peru, 300 of them in the Ayacucho region. This alert is courtesy of Hiscox. - Kidnappings for ransom happen regularly in the Niger Delta, where the bulk of the population lives below the breadline. Read more
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