Kidnapping! Ransom! HELP!!!!

aruna said:

Now I'm trying to figure out a way for the locker key to be safely handed over to the kidnappers. The kidnappers are going to mail the kidnappee's relatives with instructions. WHat might those instructions be, apart from NO POLICE?

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Probably the best option would be a dead drop.

This method is an old school espionage piece of tradecraft.

Since it's in London, allow me to give you an example. The kidnappee's relatives tape the key inside a newspaper and drop it into a bin in a public toilet. Once the key is placed, they leave a signal for the kidnappers (chalk on the door, drawing pin in a tree or... whatever).
Then the kidnappers can go in, retrieve the newspaper and away.

The advantage, from the kidnappers side, of a dead drop is that they can watch the area for a while to satisfy themselves that there is no surveillance (or whatever).

Obviously, the kidnappee's family may be asked to signal their aggreement. This could be done with an advert in the paper (using a phony name or phone number that the kidnapper gave them), or it could be as simple as them flashing their car lights in the morning.


Hope that helps.

aruna said:

The thing (not money) is to be placed in a Left Luggage locker at Victoria Station, London. I got that far.

Now I'm trying to figure out a way for the locker key to be safely handed over to the kidnappers.

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Instead of getting the locker key from the victims to the Kidnappers, why don't the kidnappers choose a locker in advance and make a copy of the key? Then they can send the key to the victims with the ransom demands.

They don't need to get the key back because they have a duplicate.

Mac

Do they still have lockers at Victoria?

There are no rubbish bins in or around any train stations anymore. I can't say for certain about in the bathrooms, because I've not been in any, but it would be the only place you'd find one if you find one. You have to walk a good distance away from King's Cross, for example, to throw something away now.


Edited to Add: Okay, yes, they do still have lockers there. But with the exception of possible bins in bathrooms (nobody gives you little paper towels here, everyone has those awful air dryers for your hands, so I wouldn't count on it) I know for a fact nobody has rubbish bins. Even our small local train station here in the a*s end of Devon has no bins. Some of the restaurants in the stations do, back behind the counter, you have to ask them to throw stuff away for you. So I'd really recommend finding a better way to transfer the key than relying on rubbish bins anywhere.

Rubbish bins have been removed due to the terrorist threat of IEDs against mass transport systems.

You may have to check with the lockers as some of them have been re-located or removed for the same reasons. Also, if the terrorist level of alert goes higher the lockers will probably be sealed shut.

The dead letter drop is effective. But it also requires the drop to be accomplished in a covert manner. This may be difficult for nervous family members to carry out.

The kidnappers could use a courier or 'mule' to conduct the pickup of the key.

As couriers, may I suggest the use of a homeless person who is begging for coins and the key can get thrown in with some coins.

Or a busker where the key can be thrown in with their days takings.

Or someone acting as a newspaper salesperson and the key can be exchanged for a paper.

Or maybe just make the lockers have those funny locks that don't require a key, rather they require a pin code.

The lockers at my local station in the city are computerised. It's a touch screen system where you pay upfront and are issued with an access number. No key required.

JJ

DecemberQuinn said:

There are no rubbish bins in or around any train stations anymore.

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That's true there aren't. I wasn't neccesarily suggesting a toilet in the train station. Actually, I was thinking Hampstead Heath (for no particular reason).

Besides, the newspaper in the bin is just one example of a dead drop.
The kidnapper could have them make the drop anywhere. So long as the kidnapper can observe the location to make sure it's not staked out and then retrieve the key without drawing too much attention to themselves.

On the subject of couriers, or intermediaries... Depending on how well organised/funded the kidnappers are, you could always use a london taxi.
"Put the goods in the locker. Walk out the south entrance, there'll be a black cab on the corner at 11am exactly. Get in, when it stops get out and leave the key on the seat."
Kind thing.

Or you could go all Len Deighton and have them stick the key under a bus seat.

For the key exchange, I'd probably do a Godfather thing. I've never used a loo in any of the train stations in London (mainly because I find it absolutely absurd to pay to take a piss unless I'm about to burst) but many places have covered toilet paper dispensers and I know some places still have elevated tanks. Taping it to the inside of a toilet paper dispenser would be a little more inconspicuous but if it can be done, to an up-draining tank as well.

As far as ISP tracking, if your technology is sophisticated enough, you can track to an exact location. Internet companies issue individual IP addresses for each customer (or it's in the computer, one or the other). A warrant and a phone call to the internet company and a simple IP search could suffice as well. But yes, your IP address is as unique as your home address. Kind of scary, actually.

Exactly. Or a library, any publically-accessed internet cafe. If they were really smart about it, they would travel well outside their safety zone because if anyone's tracking their movements (where emails are sent from) and they're all sent from places in the same area, it would be very easy to narrow them down and catch them. Perhaps take them to the 4 corners of London, maybe down into Surrey, Kent, basically don't make a pattern.

I would say a 'dodgy' internet cafe. The problem with a library is that most are covered by CCTV that would record the identity of users walking in and out. Where an out of the way internet cafe may not have any. We have little cafe's all around the place on the outskirts of the city that have one or two terminals, especially at backpacker locations.

JJ

The problem with a library is that most are covered by CCTV that would record the identity of users walking in and out

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I assume the left luggage lockers are as well.

We are definitely dealing with a very brazen kidnapper who is already insisting that the money be left somewhere riddled with security cameras .. so clearly a few extra cameras wouldn't be a deterrant!

For the email sending ... you could just piggy pack onto any open RF access point. You could find a few without problems.

Mac

Good points Mac. I checked our lockers at our main City station today. They are computerised - no keys. They are marked with a number (G1 to G18) with a centre computer console to pay. The touch screen displays whether you want a new locker or if you want to access one you already have. After you select a locker you pay the money and press the flashing button beside the individual locker.

As for CCTV - you'd be surprised Mac at the lack of CCTV in and around train stations. The ones at my City station do not cover the lockers. The reasoning is that the lockers are owned by a private enterpise and the rail operator is not responsible for them.

JJ