Son fakes his own kidnapping to extort €600 from his mother

A YOUNG Spanish man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to extort his mother out of €600 by staging his own phony kidnapping.

Both the man and his mother are residents of the dormitory town of Parla, located about 20 kilometres south of Madrid. The mother was sent ransom demands via text message and was instructed to take €600 in cash to a secret location. She was told that if she did not comply with the demands, her son would be murdered.

Despite being warned not to go to the authorities, the terrified mother immediately reported the incident to the National Police, who quickly launched the emergency protocol for kidnappings.

Before long they managed to locate the young man, who was apparently strolling freely around the town and under no visible threat.

Upon being questioned, the man admitted that he had faked the kidnapping as he was strapped for cash and had debts that he needed to pay off.