Are there any examples of a kidnapping actually being profitable?<p>It's almost impossible to pull off something like this. The money has to be transferred. Online? Follow the money trail. Cash? The police will embed tracking devices within the bills. (This is why you should immediately submerge your illicit cash in water. But I learned about that trick years ago, so surely the police would have waterproof equipment by now.)<p>If you do manage to get cash, then the three golden rules are:<p>1) Do not deposit more than $5,000 at any one bank.<p>2) Do not buy a house with cash.<p>3) Do not buy an expensive car -- law enforcement will notice your expensive Ferrari in front of your otherwise-middle-class house.<p>And at that point, have fun spending the rest of your life worrying whether someone discovers one of your fake identities, which leads them to your other identities, which connects you to the kidnapping. Not much of a life.