"Understanding and Preventing Cyber Kidnapping Among International Students"

A 17-year-old foreign exchange student in Riverdale, Utah, was blackmailed and cyber-kidnapped by criminals demanding money under threats to his family in China. The student had been sending money for about a month before his disappearance on December 28. The kidnappers extorted approximately $80,000 from the family. The student was found in a tent with minimal supplies near Brigham City after police tracked his cell phone pings. He has since been reunited with his family and they plan to return to China. The case is now in the hands of Chinese investigators as the kidnappers are believed to be based in China.