It was March of 2023 when I decided to visit my parents in Medellín, Colombia. My siblings (4 of us) decided a few years back that we needed to increase the cadence of our visits since our parents are in their 80s, not in the greatest health and… well 'nuff said.
On this trip my older brother and I overlapped for a week. It was a short trip but we were having a great time — spending quality time with family and indulging in great Colombian food — which, if you are not a carnivore, please avert your eyes. My favorite dish being the Bandeja Paisa, which consists of:
- 1 part rice
- 1 part beans
- 1 part fried egg
- 10 parts greasy meat deliciousness
Over the last few years my siblings and I had discussed the possibility of purchasing an apartment in Medellín. The hope was that we would all be on board and pool money together for a nice apartment and not break any of our individual banks. Our parents would move into this apartment as they live out their golden years and then we would have it as a vacation and/or short-term rental home. But alas — this was a pipe dream, and since we were not siblings playing with trust-fund money, the idea of shelling out several thousand for an apartment so far away was just that… an idea.
My older brother and I still held on to this pipe dream, and every now and then we would share with each other listings of apartments that looked within reach. My dad also indulged us with this fantasy and would share some places he would see come up for sale in his neighborhood. It happened that during our visit in 2023 my dad saw an apartment for sale down the street from where he and my mom live.
The 3 of us made plans to see the apartment my dad saw. When we arrived at the building we noticed it was vacant, so there was no way we could see the inside. Taped across the street-facing windows was a phone number begging us to call and inquire about the apartment.
I pick up my phone and attempt to dial the number — but my phone only had international data and I could not call numbers locally, and neither could my brother. So we borrowed my dad's phone and called. The owner picked up and gave us the info on the apartment, including cost, number of bedrooms, etc. Since he was out of town he could not show us the apartment. We thanked him and told him we had to discuss with our other siblings and reach back out if everyone was interested… but we were just being nice and weren't really interested. They were asking WAY too much.
Upon returning home — which was literally 5 minutes up the road — we could immediately sense something was drastically wrong. My mom — PALE as a GHOST — stuck her head out of the kitchen and exhaled an overwhelming sigh of relief, telling us she just got off the phone with a man barking demands stating:
- WE HAVE YOUR 2 SONS — JORGE and CARLOS
- WE WILL CALL BACK with our RANSOM DEMANDS in 30 minutes
- If you want to see Juan and Carlos again, be ready to meet us downstairs in one hour with the MONEY
My brother, my dad, and I looked at each other and didn't know what to say. First things first — we gave our mom a huge hug and let her know all is well. Next — what the heck just happened? All of our minds were racing, and they all went straight to the phone call we made to a publicly exposed number. Who would call that number? Duh — someone who obviously has enough money to purchase an apartment. How did they know our names… we didn't disclose them on the call? Was someone watching us the entire time — very creepy? Was my dad's phone compromised… did someone know all of his personal information already?
Side note — for a dad with two sons who work in IT, you would figure he would have pretty locked-down technology and employ all the safeguards around tech use. Let's just say our parents are some of the toughest and most stubborn users to give tech support to. So yes, my dad has had his fair share of scams he's fallen for.
But everything we were thinking distracted us from the more immediate need — which was to ensure all of us were physically safe. First thing I did was go downstairs and ask the doorman to not allow any unapproved guests into the building. We told him what had just happened. Hmmm… could he have been somehow involved? I digress…
When the second call came in I don't think we even had a plan as to what to say. The only thing we knew was that my dad would answer the call and not my mom. But as soon as they heard a man's voice on the phone, the caller hung up. That was the last call to come in from the Kidnapper. Our parents canceled that landline, so if there was another attempt it would have never gone through.
I like telling this story because I can make a strong recommendation that usually sticks with the people I tell it to. Obviously I don't like the fact that my mom almost had a heart attack that day, or that my brother and I had to spend the next 48 hours cleaning up all of my dad's online accounts, adding two-factor authentication to everything, and wiping and restoring his phone. BUT… it does help drive home the real risk of how nefarious actors pull on your emotional strings to get you to react and act with $$. And the sad fact is that they often target individuals like my parents, who are more likely to trust and believe — especially when circumstances could make the story seem plausible.
But guess what, ladies and gentlemen, we are all getting older as well, and we have some nasty bad actors using some very powerful technical tools to make their stories seem even more plausible. It is very possible today or tomorrow you will get a FaceTime or WhatsApp call from a loved one — it looks like her, talks like her, has the same mannerisms as her… you see that same pale white face of fear that I saw in my mom that day. What do you DO?
Set up a SAFE WORD with your family. Do it now.
Important: make sure you do not allow any device to hear what your safe word is. But agree to it and remember what it is. Hopefully you will never have to deal with an extortion scenario, or a scenario where a loved one is calling you because they are in dire need for help. It only takes a second for them to tell you the safe word — and if they do, you MUST act quickly. Otherwise just HANG UP.
Trust me, the peace of mind you get for just a little effort can go a long way.
