Missing Chinese Exchange Student Found Safe Inside Tent After Alleged Cyber Kidnapping Plot

Missing Chinese Exchange Student Found Safe Inside Tent After Alleged Cyber Kidnapping Plot
17-year-old foreign exchange student Kai Zhuang is found by police after being reported missing. Courtesy of Riverdale Police
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An exchange student from China reported missing in Utah on Dec. 29 has been found “alive but very cold and scared,” hiding in a tent in the Brigham City Canyon area after falling prey to an apparent instance of cyber kidnapping.

Cyber kidnapping, or virtual kidnapping, involves misleading victims’ families into paying a ransom to free a loved one. However, in such cases, the kidnappers are bluffing and are not actually holding anyone. Instead, through deception, threats, and other tactics, they coerce victims into paying a quick ransom before the ruse is discovered.
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