The anti-extortion campaign seeks to make pedagogy and invite citizens to denounce at the lines 147 of the Military Gaula, or 165, of the Police Gaula.
After the denunciation is made, the citizen receives immediate assistance from an expert agent who will prevent the victim from losing their money and peace of mind.
The Ministry of National Defense launched a digital campaign so that citizens know the different modalities of extortion, in order to denounce and receive adequate accompaniment of the Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), since more than 90 percent of the cases reported are successfully resolved.
According to Lieutenant Colonel David Felipe Ciro, deputy director of the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), extortion is a “vicious circle” that is not solved with a payment because, what the offender, when the citizen pays, does is continue with the chain of extortions. That is why the Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) are responsible for advising so that the citizen has the ability to face that situation.
In October there was a decrease of 6 percent, with the number of 795 cases, while, in the same month of the previous year, 843 were reported. However, so far this year in Colombia this crime has increased 9 percent, since, according to the authorities, the cyber world has made it easier for criminals to obtain the basic information of the victim, so experts warn that everything starts with prevention.
“Many times we publish valuable information for criminals on social networks, even businesses have a Chamber of Commerce number that is unfortunately public; there the offender can have his victim's name, ID number, address and business name, and from there he starts to make his victim believe that he knows everything,” explains Major Mauricio Medina, head of the Prevention Unit of the Military Gaula.
Once the Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) makes contact with the victim, the first thing it does is keep the victim calm, since the criminals know how to get into the victim's head to get information that will be useful in the next call, which eventually shows that they know everything about his or her life.
“The first thing we do when advising the victim, is to reassure him / her and explain that he / she is a victim of a modality. The problem is when the victim gets involved in his / her own nightmare, because he / she believes everything victimizers say,” says Major Medina.
There are different types of extortion, many of them do not require work, but on the contrary, with a call or text message, criminals pressure their victim to get money.
Below, we expose the most common extortion modalities that are reported in Colombia:
False Service:
In this modality, criminals make a call to merchants who provide a service such as, for example, a carpenter. They hire him to go to do a job outside the city or municipality, according to the region.
When he reaches the point, he finds that the address does not exist, he receives a call of the individuals who identify themselves as an outlaw group, and they tell him that at that moment they have him surrounded, they are pointing him, and that he should not make any movement.
Later, they make or request the call of a relative, so there the extortion is complete, since they call him and say that they have kidnapped him.
From Prison Modality:
This is when these criminals use a very well structured script, make the call to the victims from prison, and usually identify themselves as groups outlaw to make demands such as military accessories, communications and drugs, among others.
Normally it is a material that is not easily obtained, so they have to manifest to the perpetrator the impossibility of obtaining the material. All this psychology and script, is in order for the victim to consent.
Classical Modality
This modality is carried out by groups outlaw, by summoning the victim in a place of their interference, so that, by means of a document, or even by a call there is an economic demand and the victim is allowed to continue in their businesses or companies.
Minimum Amount Modality
It is when groups outlaw make a minimum economic demand in a trade sector. That is, for example, against the one who distributes eggs, they charge them $ 500 COP per carton of eggs, to allow those persons exercise their activity in the commercial area, since the criminals assure the zone is of their interference. However, by adding up the small amounts, they turn into high sums of money.
Modality Sexting
It is usually given through social networks, where the victims, for the most part, are minors or very old (particularly men). In this modality, criminals use adult pages, where they identify themselves to provide sexual services. There the victim or user establishes a communication with a partner and agrees to send photos of his / her naked body.
Then this game ceases to be, when the offender accesses the images of the victim, intimidates him / her and assures that photos will be published, there, in order not to do so, a sum of money is demanded.
Source: Press office - National Directorate Military Gaula
