A Houston woman collected cash drops for a caller in Mexico who told 39 families their children had been kidnapped

2018 United States Sentenced

Yanette Rodriguez Acosta, also known as Yanette Patino, 35, of Houston, worked with a co-conspirator in Mexico, identified as Ismael Ramirez, who called 39 families across Texas, California and Idaho between August 20 and October 21, 2015, falsely claiming their children had been kidnapped and demanding ransom. One family was threatened that their child's fingers would be cut off if they did not pay. Acosta travelled to drop-off points in Houston, where victims had been instructed to leave cash after withdrawing it from their banks, and personally collected $13,000 at one drop and $15,000 at another; other victims were told to wire money to Mexico. She was indicted in July 2017 on eight counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy counts in February 2018, and was sentenced on September 20, 2018 to 88 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. No kidnappings had actually occurred.

Year: 2018
Where: United States
Outcome: Sentenced
Reported loss: $28,000
Victims: 39
Schemes: Virtual kidnapping scams
Last reviewed: 2026-10-05

The facts, as recorded

Yanette Rodriguez Acosta, also known as Yanette Patino, 35, of Houston, was indicted in July 2017 on eight counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Her co-conspirator, identified as Ismael Ramirez, called victims from Mexican phone numbers between August 20 and October 21, 2015, claiming to have kidnapped their children.
The scheme targeted at least 39 families across Texas, California and Idaho, including families in The Woodlands, Texas.
One victim was threatened that their child's fingers would be cut off if a ransom was not paid.
Acosta travelled to drop-off points in Houston, where callers had instructed victims to leave cash after withdrawing it from their own bank accounts, and personally collected $13,000 at one drop and $15,000 at another.
Some victims outside Houston were instructed to wire money to Mexico instead of leaving a cash drop.
Investigators confirmed that no actual kidnappings had taken place.
Acosta pleaded guilty to the conspiracy counts in February 2018 and was sentenced on September 20, 2018 to 88 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal.
The FBI's Houston office said the single best response to such a call is to hang up and contact the supposedly kidnapped relative directly, then call the FBI.

What the record shows

Acosta’s role was the physical, domestic half of a scheme run by telephone from Mexico. She did not make the calls; Ismael Ramirez did, dialing 39 families in three states over a two-month window and telling them their children had been taken. Acosta’s job was to go to the cash drop points Ramirez named over the phone and collect the money victims had withdrawn from their own banks, which she did at least twice, for $13,000 and $15,000. Other victims were routed to send money by wire directly to Mexico instead.

The case was built on wire fraud and money laundering statutes rather than kidnapping charges, because nobody had actually been kidnapped, consistent with investigators’ public statement that the entire premise of every call was false.

Why this case matters

This is the clearest documented example of the domestic collector role in a virtual kidnapping scheme: a US-based participant who never speaks to the victim, only drives to a location and picks up cash after a caller overseas has already extracted the payment instruction by phone. It shows how a scheme run almost entirely from outside the country still needs, and exposes, a person physically present inside it.

The caveat

Acosta pleaded guilty and was sentenced by a federal judge, so her conviction is a proven legal outcome, not an allegation. The $13,000 and $15,000 figures are the two drop-offs reported in connection with her arrest; this page does not claim they represent the total amount collected across all 39 targeted families, which is not stated in the sources available. Ismael Ramirez, described as the caller in Mexico, is not confirmed in these sources as having been extradited or separately prosecuted.

Sources

Houston woman arrested for 'virtual kidnapping' scheme. ABC13 Houston / KTRK. Accessed 2026-10-05. Supports: Acosta's name, aliases, age, location, the 10-count indictment, the 39 targeted families across Texas, California and Idaho, the threat to cut off a child's fingers, the Woodlands families' cash drops versus wires to Mexico, and the FBI's advice.
Virtual kidnapping case: key facts. CBS News Texas. Accessed 2026-10-05. Supports: Acosta's guilty plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, her September 2018 sentencing to 88 months, and confirmation that no kidnappings occurred.
Four sentenced in California cross-border extortion ring. Associated Press, via Yahoo News. Accessed 2026-10-05. Supports: General background confirming virtual kidnapping rings of this period operated with a US-based collector working alongside callers in Mexico.

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