Tiger Kidnapping

A form of kidnapping in which an offender takes a hostage, often a family member of a targeted employee, not to demand a ransom payment directly but to coerce that employee into committing a separate crime, most often a robbery of their own employer such as a bank or another cash-handling business, while the hostage is held to compel compliance. The term originates from the patient, stalking manner in which offenders study a target's routine before striking, in the way a tiger stalks its prey, and the tactic is documented as historically underreported because the coerced employee, though themselves a victim, has also technically taken part in the resulting crime, making them reluctant to come forward to police.