In the 1980s, in Los Angeles in the wee hours, I was nearly the victim of a two vehicle ploy. Two vans came down an on-ramp together. One came over to the fast lane and took up a position in front of me, while the other kept the same pace, but two lanes over. Suddenly, the van in front of me hit the brakes and stopped. My gut instinct was that if these people wanted me to stop I had better do the opposite. I gunned the engine and drove between the two vans and got away.
I think they wanted me to rear-end the van in front of me so they would be able to sue me and/or collect insurance money, and the second vehicle was there to be a witness.
I guess the poor lady in this article was the victim of a more violent variant of the two-vehicle ambush.
I’ve heard of that scam using one vehicle in front, that slams on its brakes and causes a rear-ender. Then they all claim whiplash, and they just happen to have their lawyer’s card handy. But that takes only one vehicle, getting in front. I think your two vehicle ploy had a more evil intention. Kidnapping, etc.