Express kidnapping is a method of abduction

Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 used in some countries, mainly from Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, where a small ransom

Ransom

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...

, that a company or family can easily pay, is requested. It is most common in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. It was frequent in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 following its political and economic crisis in 2001. ATM

Automated teller machine

An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...

 abductions, where the victim is forced to withdraw money from his or her account, are common in many urban areas of Mexico, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, and Brazil.

Express kidnappings have been known of in the US since at least July 30, 1986 when US Representative Mario Biaggi proposed having all ATM networks reprogrammed to recognize that an alternate, emergency PIN had been used to withdraw the cash. Although a 2010 congressional report asserts that the data on "express kidnappings are unavailable" it also notes that the Los Angeles PD has adopted an address system for tracking violent crimes associated with the ATM. By acquiring a master list of ATM addresses, the police are able to track all crimes associated with the ATM industry in their community.

In some parts of Latin America, express kidnappings are also known as a millionaire tour

Millionaire tour

The millionaire tour , also translated as millionaire walk, is a criminal practice common in some Latin American capital cities.A passenger takes a cab and is temporarily kidnapped by the driver...

.