Bitcoin Forum

Showing off one's money and accomplishments has suddenly become socially acceptable. People nowadays, particularly on social media, display their wealth and extravagant luxury.

My uncle's friend, a crypto trader who primarily trades in bitcoin, was ambushed and kidnapped by unknown gunmen. He was released after a few days; they never demanded a ransom from the relatives; they thought he was missing and were praying and looking for him after reporting to security personnel.

He was a wealthy young man who made his money through cryptocurrency trading and invests wisely in it. He was the type of person that is constantly pompous and flaunts his riches and online wallet savings. He stated that after they apprehended him, they took him to an unknown location and instructed him to unlock his phone and transfer all of his cryptocurrencies to them, after he had moved everything from his trust wallet to a centralized exchange. He exchanged his coin for fiat and was instructed to transfer all funds to another account, the account of another kidnap victim with them. They withdrew all of the monies sent to them using the victim's ATM card. They were both released after all this, after spending three days in captivity with them.

People nowadays flaunt their wealth online, with no idea who is watching and tracking their every step. Not all of your close ones like you because you are wealthy; they may be looking for a method to take advantage of your wealth. Keep your wealth hidden from the public; you don't have to brag about how much money you have and how well you live.

It's also worth noting that some people flaunt their wallets in advertisements in order to entice people to invest in certain projects. They do this to trick individuals into believing they have made a lot of money after investing in the project. When you see one posing as such online, check for a red flag.

Cryptocurrency investment has gone widespread, and even people who do not invest in them are aware of its profitability. Even if you presume the person doesn't know anything about it, they can still inquire and be told how it's done. In today's digital world, be cautious and security mindful with your wallet and everything you do.

I'm happy that he's still alive and wasn't hurt except for the funds he lost during the incident.

I don't support the idea of flaunting one's wealth so others can see, the human mind is always corrupt that your friend that's always smiling with you might also have some ill thoughts toward you, so you flaunting your wealth might stimulate more jealousy.

Your wealth is for you so you should keep it to yourself.

And for him to have been moving with his phone that contains his coins is also wrong though it happened unexpectedly.
For me the devices I use for trading or to hold my funds have never left my house I have a separate device that I use to reach out to people.

I hope he learns from this experience not to flaunt his wealth publicly and also he should tighten up his security or he could also consider getting a hard wallet.


~Valar~

Bitcoin shows true decentralization, it doesn't expose users holdings to the public. If crypto investor like your uncle's friend decides to expose their crypto portfolio to the public through social medias, then they should suffer any loss or insecurity that may follow. Though this is a hard lesson for people to learn. Bitcoin Blockchain has played it part  is left for users to oby the rule too.

It is not even enough to just say, "don't always flaunt your wealth." It appears as if it is completely all right to flaunt it sometimes or seldom. The truth is that it is never a wise idea to flaunt your wealth anytime. Keep your riches to yourself. For one, others won't be happy for you that you are becoming wealthy. And, of course, others would only think of ways to get that wealth off you. So whether this story is true or not, the lesson is there.

It not even don't always flaunt your wealth and wallet online. Its don't flaunt your wealth and wallet online. Apart from it makes the wallet owner a target of the online attacker or thief it doesn't make any sense to do that because the person that does it, is not helping herself and the people around her.

This is only acceptable for people that are naive about the consequence involved.

A $2000 BFG can protect you from a bunch of $5 wrenches, but yeah, don't do stupid stuff like bragging about your net worth anywhere.

This is some worst case scenario for being less private on our financial status. But of the people that I saw this kind of show off post on social are those influencers and people involved networking that using there wealth to attract people to invest or support them. I only have few friends that do posting of luxury items on social media and most of them has some investment to offer to whoever will be interested to the items that they post online.

It’s not bad to become proud of your possession but we just need to make sure that the only person that see it are those we trust the most and not on public.

First, you claim that they released him after a few days, and from the continuation of the story, we learn that all they asked for was that he unlock his smartphone and make a cryptocurrency transfer, sell it and transfer it to another bank account. And it took them even 3 days for all that?

Besides, your uncle's friend didn't really understand how to store cryptocurrencies if he used mobile storage as his main wallet. I wonder how he managed to get rich in the first place, because considering what happened to him, he doesn't seem too intelligent.

I am sure the kidnappers were very careful about how to go about the withdrawal of the funds from the bank. They can't withdraw large sums of money from the bank instantly, which is why they did it day after day.


The mobile storage wallet is not his main wallet but he had one for easy accessibility. Moreover, now that they have him, the kidnappers will go to any length to rob him of his wealth.  Not transferring his money to them would had cost his life, and the wealth is not worth sacrificing his life for. But if there’s life there’s hope to get another.

Oh my God, if militants attack every trader, where will it end? Did this person have a large enough sum for anyone to worry about it? 
Nevertheless, in 2017, I witnessed how a guy who was engaged in cryptocurrency successfully improved his financial situation. But out of his vanity, he began to behave very pretentiously, buying clothes in very expensive stores and leading a completely immodest lifestyle. What happened next? 
He attracted the attention of the tax authorities. He was not bothered by the militants, but the tax company found big violations, and the guy went to jail. 
Our parents teach us to be humble from childhood; why do some people not learn these lessons? >:(

If the mobile wallet was not his main storage, did he store his cryptocurrencies on a crypto exchange? Otherwise, I don't see how they managed to rob him for a significant amount? From what you wrote, it seems that the kidnappers still have him, and in the OP you claim that they released him after three days?

Does this story have any official news source considering that it is about the kidnapping of two people and extortion?

He had access to his main storage through his mobile wallet too for easy accessibility when the need arises. He shouldn’t have kept one in his phone for security reasons, but he did and this has cost him a lot of loss. He would have learned from it now.

They don’t still have him. He was released after three days, they had kept him for few days to get all the funds withdrawn first to avoid trace of any such and they did not use his own account to withdraw the funds.


It has no official news source, I would have added the source link if there’s any.

Doing this attracts hacker and make you become their next target. We'd supposed to keep anonymous if possible and keep our wallets out from the sight of others to avoid interest. I know that they are just proud of their achievements but for now, as hackers are increasing, we have to be cautious enough as this was also for our safety.

As we can see, huge investors and rich people hide on social media because they wanted peace of mind and yes, they wanted space from these hackers.

We of this generation believe that living an extravagant luxury lifestyle will make us better than our grandparents, not realizing that we are constantly exposing ourselves to greater risk. People monitor almost all of your success, and the majority of them are not happy about it. The best way to live life nowadays is to be extra careful and showcase less of your full asset, especially if you are involved in cryptocurrency trading; they know they can track you down and get almost all of your wealth on your mobile device, which they know you are always with it.

Sometimes they just tend to ignore these things and have mindset that bragging about their wealth online and showing how much funds they have will gain them social influence and domination over the market but to their expectations opposite happens and they attract hackers and government authorities towards them and exposing their whole wallets.

We have seen government authorities can force to unlock your funds if you are coming from those dictator countries where you have no rights.So the wise decision is to keep yourself far away from these things and live a simple life online.

So far I don't know any people that flaunt their holdings online, but some of them do flaunt their exchange trade PNLs. While it's not as bad as flaunting wallets, it still definitely poses some risk. It's just too convenient for them as exchanges even have a share option after closing a trade.

Not only that but they kidnapped another person and had the funds from the exchange sent to that person's bank account and withdrawn from it.
Why? Why lose more time with this second bank transfer when it's going to be fairly obvious who were the guys that sent the money and who used the second victim's ATM card, even for the donut police to find out?

Ok, I know some robbers are just stupid but here we're supposed to deal with ones that at least know a thing or two about currency exchange and everything else, it's just that, l mean, If I were a robber, I would just point a gun at him, make him unhand his smartphone, unblock it, send the coins to an address, and just to make sure smash the phone and the sim card so he can't do anything in the next 10 minutes.
The most important thing in all of this is that if I ever get caught I would face only a robbery charge, not a kidnapping on top of that.


Ok, OP, help me figure this out.
https://financengr.com/nigerian-banks-atm-transfer-limit-2020-2021-withdrawal-limit-inclusive/

150 000 Niara a day is a 350$ limit, which means in 3 days the robbers would have managed to get 1050$ from that ATM, does this make any sense for a band of kidnappers, maybe three or four to kidnap 2 guys for what, 250$ for each?
They would get the same money by robbing a random guy working at Vodafone on his paycheck day!

And with this we're back at the part about robbers being stupid!

For a minute, I had to pause to reflect on the ingenuity of those criminals on the story OP narrated. They had to make the braggart transfer to an exchange and sell it for fiat. First off, this is where veterans here have continued to advise that no one should have their 2FA app on the same phone as the phone they use for trading. If the victim had separate phones/devices and kept the one having the 2FA at home, they would've been protected from theft somehow.

Now, the issue of bragging brings me to that popular saying that those who have act like they don't have while those who don't have act like they've. People should learn to act and live in simplicity. Bragging and pomposity won't profit anyone anything.

I would never brag about how much I earn regardless of how low or high it is. What is the end goal anyway in showing your money online? Letting people know about your success. I am pretty sure that people don't really care about how you do anyway in crypto and what you are describing in your post is the worst possible thing that could happen. 99% of the time people in social media do not give a crap anyway as they are to busy taking care of themselves than giving a shit on other people's thing.

I really like the last sentence that Mpamaegbu said in the last paragraph.
Sure, bragging would give you humongous confidence, but what had you personally gain from doing anyway? Stay low profile.

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I am sorry to hear that story though by the way, OP.

This is just my opinion. it’s just not okay to flaunt your wealth online or anywhere else. Personally, I think those who flaunt their wealth are either proud or deeply seeks societal acknowledgment and acceptance in order to be okay.

It’s also not safe and wise to flaunt as you don’t know who’s watching and there’s always someone watching. You could very well attract the unwanted attention that could bring trouble to your doorstep.
Also, people who flaunt material wealth are mostly materialistic

There are ways to flaunt your wealth online by creating a dummy account that won't be link to my personal identity. I think that's the problem of that person. As I stated in my previous post in another thread is that when you have crypto in your wallet that many people know then it is possible that they may ambush and threatened you if you don't give what they want. Anyway, that case is when his wife access crypto when she is in a hotel and later on she find out that all her crypto is gone which is the same as this one but the difference is the person or group of people behind it didn't ambush or anything like that but I did say that it may happen to his wife just like the one happened in this story.

Honestly, for me I believe nothing should make anyone feel better than keeping a low profile. It's the same way we say that a man of authority doesn't need to ask anyone "do you know who I am?" Of course, he knows he's a man of authority and doesn't need anyone to ascertain it. Those who make that statement aren't people of authority in the real sense of it. It's the same thing with real and profitable traders. They don't have anything to prove to anyone and that's why they keep a low profile. Any trader who brags about how much they earn is only advertising to hoodwink unsuspecting public or they're simply signal marketers who need referrals.

There are quite a lot of such people, you just don't pay attention to them) Now a lot of people link their ens.domains to the name on Twitter, obviously unaware that the contents of their wallet thus become viewable. As an example, the vitalik.eth address is linked to the name Vitalik Buterin (https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin) on Twitter and, accordingly, you can view the contents of his wallet by following the link: https://etherscan.io/address/vitalik.eth

On point!

Not everyone you show your wealth is happy with your success. Some are malicious, while others are looking for a way to bring you down. I personally know a couple of folks who were localbitcoins traders with vasts amounts of bitcoins they would keep showing off in our WhatsApp group. They got robbed of their Bitcoins on gun point when they went out to meet the interested "buyers" in person.

Having financial privacy, it is the best advice for anyone. Show off your wealth and crypto balance on social media will be very dangerous and will only threaten security and life. What happened to the person you describe should be one of the reasons why any of us should not display our wealth online. It was clear that it was so bad, they never knew who was lurking.

Even admit how much wealth we have on anyone offline can be dangerous. Obviously this should not be done either online or offline, financial privacy is a must and this is not to be made public.

this is a scary story. why is it important to be anonymous? it's to avoid crimes like this!

Many people don't realize when they flaunt something they have on social media or in real life, it catches the attention of those around them. In addition to the crimes that arise, jealousy and envy will certainly arise from those who hear the news of the show-off.

my father is a wise man, when I was in school he always told me that everyone has different luck, don't show off your luck, those who are lucky will definitely make you the object of their frustration and maybe will try to snatch your luck (rob or kill you).

This goes to all rich people who are used to brag their wallet achievements online, not realizing that it could bring threat to their lives from those people who are closely watching them from far. Even though its “not to brag but to inspire other people” according to them, still its not a wise idea to let other people know that you have accumulated it in your wallet. The story might be true, so hopefully it will leave a lesson to those who are able to read it.

Rather than assuring that only those close and trusted people can see our posts, I think it’s a much wiser idea not to show off and brag whatever luxury life we have. Because you really don’t know if your friends will see your posts as somewhat bragging or boastful, and for that they might resort into thinking doing bad to teach you a lesson. Let’s just keep our riches privately, that way we can avoid people from envy and from doing harm to us.

Kind of reminds me of that good old meme involving rich people wherein it said that...
Ironically those people claiming that they are rich and could brag everything in all of their social media are those who just had it really bad. Those traders that you're also mentioning could also be in a plenty of debt in reality and they were claiming that the money they had were the results of their so-called "hard work".
This is why I do not buy some people's "claimed success" in social media a lot especially FB.

Reason why I don't really impressed people flaunting their trading result on social media and post how much money they get from tradings because most of this guys is just bragging and want to show off, but in the end their losses is much higher than their winnings. I'm more impressed on those people who's silent and consistent on their trades because they are much successful and focused on what they are doing.

showing off wealth is not a good thing,
moreover you only intend to tell or arrogant to your friends,
it's a very risky thing
because as you read above, not everyone is happy we become rich,

so it is better to remain silent in pleasure,
than showing off in fear,

and sometimes there are poor people who see the posts of rich people, they must be sad,
unless the person makes your content or shows off your wealth as motivation, it's still better,

it is better to stay away from the arrogant
because it could harm yourself.

There was a rapper in the united states that got robbed and killed because he posted some bunch of money in his car with a friend and also mistakenly revealed his location through pictures, this mistake cost him his life, I have forgotten this rapper's name, we need to be very careful what we share online.

So money loves silence. The problem is not that your friends will find out about your financial success, but that due to the fact that this news will become the property of many, including criminal persons who are engaged in robberies. So such information about your financial situation will become the property of criminal structures, and the form of your wealth does not matter here, it can be fiat, gold or cryptocurrency.

I'm skeptical about some things from this story, so although it's not impossible that it happened exactly like that, it could be that the story was made up by the OP, or he misunderstood what someone told him. Besides, is it that easy to add another bank account number to your crypto exchange without verification?

Something similar happened in India, but according to the report, everything lasted only 3 hours. Something skeptical in me tells me that this story from India could be the inspiration on which the OP wrote the story.

I totally agree with this.
It would be better if we safeguard and protect our own assets and privacy. Because we do not know who in either the people who make friends or see our online activities in cyberspace. We must continue to maintain caution, especially with regard to sensitive and crucial data such as online wallets. We may have tried to be vigilant but hackers or scammers are very smart to take advantage of the opportunities that exist, even if they are few. Therefore, if we give them an opening, it will be a bad thing.

Yeah, I am too, especially about the whole ATM card thing, but I'm getting tired of calling them out on these stories, there are just so many things that don't make sense and they spin it with every explanation I'm starting to feel sorry for them. We recently had a few of those stories coming up, this kidnapping, the hidden camera in the honeymoon room, and many others, I just know some of them are things that didn't really happen to them and they are just milking the subject, but at the same time, from a reader points of view as long as the story is still true despite happening elsewhere the moral of the story is still the same.


As I was saying, it makes no sense with that ATM card, they got the BTC and they made a run for it, these guys got 8 BTC worth 160k, even here in Europe I have a 3k limit on ATM withdraws, it will take me two months trying to get that in cash, and let's not talk about that 300$ limit in Nigeria, it would take you 2 years!!!!!!  ;D
But browsing around, even the "original" didn't include the social media exposure thing, but this case does:

Teenager seized and hauled into car after posting on social media about earning ‘reasonable amount of money’ trading cryptocurrency
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/bradford-schoolboy-bitcoin-kidnapped-gang-b1940896.html

So yeah, the threat and dangers are real!

This is a wise advice for as many crypto trader and investor out there. The inflation rate has triggered so much hardship in the society and for crypto professionals who earn through trading and investment its likely to put themselves in danger flaunting their achievements on social media because it might attract unnecessary persons around you

It depends how you flex with your assets some people make a post to their social media that share their motivational experience to other people so they can keep grinding to earn too, but some people just want only to flex because they have a lot of money and let the people follow them because they are curious how they got those tons of money and this is the cons thing too people with bad intention can easily monitor the activity of the particular person and grab the chance or opportunity to take that money to them.

The popularity of social media like Instagram or Facebook has made it possible for everyone to have a voice. Even those with limited thinking abilities (trying not to say stupid). There is a saying: "The goal is to be rich, not to look rich".

Sure, bragging about your wealth on online communities can attract certain types of ladies, but you can also become a target for other groups of people whose intentions are not to take you to bed, but put a knife under your throat. So be humble and down to earth. It's ok to enjoy expensive things, but have some decency. You don't need to brag about your most recent Rolex purchase online when your next door neighbor is struggling to put his kids through school. 

I can imagine some people flexing their Lambo and Rolex, but in reality, they're into too much debt. Almost everything we see in social media is just purely the front, but not a single soul has an idea of what's really happening behind.

Almost no one wants to flex their struggles and challenges in life since they don't want to be "ego'd" by other people surrounding them.

I have observed from experience that even sharing or discussing financial matters with some close family members or friends can breed envy and jealousy. Many kidnapping crime in my location was coordinated by either family members or close friends or associates. Bragging or fluenting wealth on social media is a clear invitation to criminals. Social media is riskier than the street. If you are fluenting your wealth, you can decide not to go to some crimeprone places or areas. But you cannot control how the information or picture you post online move. Keeping a low profile is the pathway to peace and freedom from anxiety and fears

This forum has increased my skill in secrecy and privacy because nobody cares about who you are or how much you are worth. I have always loved to live a low-key life even if I have the means to live a life of luxury. Also, I have also learned to scrutinize every piece of information that comes out of social media. And anybody that fluent his wealth is a suspect.

Some people are not pleased with your achievement when you display your wealth. Some of them are spiteful, while others are trying to undermine you. I personally know a few people who traded bitcoins locally and often flaunted their enormous holdings online.  We should better preserve and secure our personal property and privacy. We must continue to exercise caution, particularly when dealing with sensitive and important data like that found in online wallets.

All of these lifestyle choices are most frequently made by young people today, who frequently engage in them on social media without realizing that they are inviting enemies to join them. Some of them will not even have much to show off, but instead choose to brag about what little they have amassed.

Because of the way you live a luxurious life, some people feel imitate by this type of behavior and join scam gangs to start defrauding people. Other people, including some guys, will not even care to get involved in any crime just to get this money.
Stopping all of these ridiculous lifestyles by displaying real riches online would be a great idea, not just for personal safety but to reduce rate of youths involve in illegal activities just live like them, this type of action have be the major increase of scammers in my country.