Picture this: You're on a business trip and just finished a long day of work. It's late evening, and you're walking to a restaurant near your hotel, when two men approach you asking for directions. As you begin to answer, they flash a gun and push you into a car that has just pulled up to the curb. They drive you to an ATM, where they force you to empty your account and call your family to deposit more money in the account. You're held for a day, and the kidnappers receive $8,000.

This increasingly common scenario is a portrait of an “express kidnapping.”

What is kidnapping? Essentially, the term refers to the abduction of a person who is held against his or her will. Each year, at least 15,000 to 20,000 kidnappings occur across the globe. That's the number of reported cases, but the real figure is likely higher. Because only 10 percent to 30 percent of all kidnappings are reported to the media or authorities, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact number.