The Police counted 1,628 cases of extortion in 2021. A higher figure than that registered in 2019 and 2020. The agents ask citizens to protect the information.
The call lasts a few seconds. The voice of a man that is not identified it is threatening. “They hired me to kill you“, He says. Then, he assures that he is the leader of a criminal gang and demands the delivery of money so as not to threaten the integrity of the person who answered the phone. “If you want to live pay me more than my employers offered me”Continues the conversation.
Investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office indicate that it is a new extortion method against citizens. It does via digital. Organizations that operate in Ecuador and other countries in the region are responsible for searching for personal information from network users. Criminals aim, above all, to profiles of doctors, lawyers, businessmen, merchants and university students. Even families.
Once with the data, they call from a phone abroad. They do it via WhatsApp. To intimidate potential victims, they say their full name, address, name of their children or partner. The intention is to convince you that your life is in danger. This newspaper already collected cases that occurred in Tungurahua last month.
Extortions increased during the pandemic
The Police counted 1,628 cases of extortion in Ecuador during 2021. This represents more than 300 additional cases to those registered in 2020 (see infographic). The data belongs to the Anti-Kidnapping and Extortion Unit of the Police. Its director, the colonel Fernando Zapata, spoke with LA HORA about this phenomenon.
According to the investigated cases, during the pandemic virtual commerce grew. Many people offered on the Internet, without any filter, goods or services. This information was uploaded to personal accounts where the mafias looked for other types of information and then used it in threats. In Pichincha, Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos and Esmeraldas were the provinces in which more cases of digital extortion were found.
How do the gangs operate?
Once they make contact, people demand that they hand over sums of money ranging from the $ 500. The extortionists ask for money transfers to be made to accounts that are located abroad. Investigations conclude that the money is being sent to Colombia, Venezuela and Peru.
The Police indicate that only in Quito, 80% of extortion cases are executed with this new digital method. Once the payments are made, the criminals disappear. The capital registered 564 complaints of extortion and ranked first in the country.
Fear is your ally
The ‘vaccines’ increased since September. An analysis of police data concludes that threatening calls they are related to the massacres in prisons. Zapata indicates that the extortion organizations took the name of criminal gangs such as Los Lobos, Los Choneros or Tiguerones. These mafias are responsible for the bloody events in the prisons, according to prison intelligence.
Only in September 198 extortion calls. That month there was the massacre that left 118 dead. Then, in November, after the massacre that left 68 fatalities, 182 complaints of extortion were registered.
The ‘vaccines’ are also face-to-face
The Police avoid talking about the investigations being carried out in Los Ríos, Tungurahua and Pichincha where several cases of merchants who are extorted in their own premises have been reported.
LA HORA raised the information on ‘vaccines’ that they request from merchants in Valencia on a regular basis. In Los Ríos, extortion calls against people whose cars were stolen also increased. Suspects see phone numbers on social media in posts where a vehicle theft is reported. The mafias communicate and offer information in exchange for money. Everything is a hoax.
In the south of Quito, on the other hand, motorists left “notifications” to owners of tolerance centers so that they pay for “security.” There it was indicated that they owned Los Lobos and they demanded a payment of $ 20 a month.
The operatives
Due to intelligence work, the agents captured 160 People for crimes of extortion, in January 2021, arrested an entire gang that operated from the south of Quito and from Puerto Quito. Among the evidence they found computers, cell phones, checks and storage devices.
To do?
1.- Avoid putting personal information, without filters, on social networks.
2.- Do not use the same account for your economic activities and your personal activities.
3.- In case of receiving a call, do not fall into the game of the extortionists. For example, if they ask you, who am I talking to? Answer, who do you want to talk to?
4.- Do not panic. Listen to the conversation calmly despite insults or threats. If you can, record the conversation.
5.- After hanging up, call ECU-911. There, tell about your emergency and you will be referred to a police officer. Your identity is saved.
6.- File the complaint. Make a complaint to a Prosecutor’s Office so that your case is registered. (DPV)
