College student arrested for faking kidnapping, demanding ransom

A college student was arrested in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines, for allegedly fabricating his own kidnapping in an attempt to extort money from his parents. The incident came to light during a police rescue operation yesterday. During the investigation, the student admitted that the kidnapping was staged. According to the student's mother, shortly after dropping her son off at school on Wednesday morning, she received a message from an unknown account on Facebook Messenger stating that her son had been kidnapped. The sender demanded P300,000 in ransom for her son's release, to be sent within two hours. The mother sought police assistance after receiving videos showing her son blindfolded and pleading for help.