I don't see the novelty. This was already happening in the 90s, and it fell out of favour only because interacting with the victim is risky: like in the movies,

I don't see the novelty. This was already happening in the 90s, and it fell out of favour only because interacting with the victim is risky: like in the movies, the second call you make to the family, after kidnapping somebody, will have the authorities listening in. Shopping data around the underground is much less likely to attract attention. The fact these guys prefer to go back to basics imho is a sign of inexperience or extreme certainty they won't suffer consequences (i.e. because they're unreachable by US authorities).