NYC man robbed of his bitcoins at gunpoint

[jaysabi]

Drugs addict, i believe this 2 bandits need money for drugs.They never think about 10 years in prison for their crime, they only think how to get money fast and easy.

They chose someone who is inexperienced, and less likely to report the crime to the cops.

That didn't work out so well since he reported it to the cops.

[Wilikon]

people risk 10years for 1100$
cruel world!

Are the robbers your family members? Not a cruel world for the victim?

[Possum577]

Not worth it for BTC5 ($1100)?!?!

Where are all the "to the moon" people declaring that BTC5 will be worth $5,000,000 in 10 years...just about the time these guys will be getting out of jail (if they get caught).

I hope they do catch the guy but it's stupid to meet some stranger to sell your BTC, there are much easier ways to do it!

[thebigtalk]

Wow that's insane. Anything to get money nowadays. People should be very careful to whom they're dealing with and they can now rob bitcoins and couldn't do anything about it after having it sent to the suspect's address. *sigh*

[Falconer]

Wow that's insane. Anything to get money nowadays. People should be very careful to whom they're dealing with and they can now rob bitcoins and couldn't do anything about it after having it sent to the suspect's address. *sigh*

Yeah I guess in few years there will be more robbers with the improvement methods to rob anything what you have.

[TinEye]

people risk 10years for 1100$
cruel world!

Are the robbers your family members? Not a cruel world for the victim?

it's a bit cruel for both, because those criminals some times are forced to do bad things like that, for economic reasons, the only bad criminal are the government and their banks friends, which control everything and decide who will be poor and who not
also it goes by itself that the pressure caused by this, It is increasing the criminal activities in the world, and everything that is related to it, so again it could be a great conspiracy from banks, to devalue the bitcoin price

[erikalui]

So now the time has come when people have stop robbing real cash, ornaments and now believe in robbing bitcoins? Now a thief will not ask me for my banking password but instead will ask me for my bitcoin wallet password. The buyer was so foolish to plan such a big theft for such a small amount and the seller was foolish to enter his car and sell bitcoins. The buyer was rich enough to own a car and he robbed $1100? What if the seller had nothing in his bitcoin wallet and had to be a cheat himself? 

[Wilikon]

people risk 10years for 1100$
cruel world!

Are the robbers your family members? Not a cruel world for the victim?

it's a bit cruel for both, because those criminals some times are forced to do bad things like that, for economic reasons, the only bad criminal are the government and their banks friends, which control everything and decide who will be poor and who not
also it goes by itself that the pressure caused by this, It is increasing the criminal activities in the world, and everything that is related to it, so again it could be a great conspiracy from banks, to devalue the bitcoin price

Bad people existed way before the first tribe was invented, before any government or any banks... Bad people are part of our fabric.

[bryant.coleman]

So now the time has come when people have stop robbing real cash, ornaments and now believe in robbing bitcoins? Now a thief will not ask me for my banking password but instead will ask me for my bitcoin wallet password. The buyer was so foolish to plan such a big theft for such a small amount and the seller was foolish to enter his car and sell bitcoins. The buyer was rich enough to own a car and he robbed $1100? What if the seller had nothing in his bitcoin wallet and had to be a cheat himself? 

The thieves were not after his Bitcoin. The potential seller lost some $8,500 in fiat cash, another $3,500 in Bitcoins, his Credit Card (and its PIN number), as well as his new Samsung mobile phone. The thieves were not idiots. They had planned this operation long back, and the indications are that they carefully screened their victim and selected some one who was the most vulnerable.

[erikalui]

So now the time has come when people have stop robbing real cash, ornaments and now believe in robbing bitcoins? Now a thief will not ask me for my banking password but instead will ask me for my bitcoin wallet password. The buyer was so foolish to plan such a big theft for such a small amount and the seller was foolish to enter his car and sell bitcoins. The buyer was rich enough to own a car and he robbed $1100? What if the seller had nothing in his bitcoin wallet and had to be a cheat himself? 

The thieves were not after his Bitcoin. The potential seller lost some $8,500 in fiat cash, another $3,500 in Bitcoins, his Credit Card (and its PIN number), as well as his new Samsung mobile phone. The thieves were not idiots. They had planned this operation long back, and the indications are that they carefully screened their victim and selected some one who was the most vulnerable.

And where did you read about it? The article does not mention about it.

The seller of the bitcoins seems to have just cashed out some money from the bank as no common man would carry so much cash and the thieves would not know about it unless they have been following him for a long time. I doubt that they contacted him via craigslist then as they wouldn't contact an unknown person and be sure that the seller is the same person. Credit card can be cancelled too and if it's tracked the thieves can be easily traced.

[amazon4u]

This is a stickup — of your virtual cash!

Two armed bandits robbed a Crown Heights man of $1,100 in bitcoins on the street last week, police said.
The 28-year-old victim had arranged through a Craigslist ad to meet with a man who purportedly wanted to buy his online currency May 27, sources said.

After the pair met up at Troy Avenue and Crown Street, the supposed would-be buyer asked the victim to come to his car, a silver Honda, to seal the deal, sources said.

But once inside, a second man in the back seat pulled a gun on the victim, demanding that he transfer the bitcoins to the two men.

The creeps also stole the victim’s cell phone before fleeing.

Police said they’re looking for two men — one of whom is believed to be 19 years old — as well as a woman, whose involvement in the mugging is unclear.


http://nypost.com/2015/06/05/nyc-man-robbed-at-gunpoint-for-his-bitcoins/




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[bryant.coleman]

And where did you read about it? The article does not mention about it.

The seller of the bitcoins seems to have just cashed out some money from the bank as no common man would carry so much cash and the thieves would not know about it unless they have been following him for a long time. I doubt that they contacted him via craigslist then as they wouldn't contact an unknown person and be sure that the seller is the same person. Credit card can be cancelled too and if it's tracked the thieves can be easily traced.

Check this:

http://rt.com/usa/265411-bitcoin-robbery-man-nyc/

But seriously, Is the robbery of some $3,500 worth of Bitcoins that important, when compared to the robbery of coins worth some $120 million by the FBI from Ross Ullbricht?

And regarding the NYC robbery, evidence support the claim that the thieves were following the victim for quite some time. But still I don't know why he was carrying that much money with him at that point of time.

[rayhan]

Drugs addict, i believe this 2 bandits need money for drugs.They never think about 10 years in prison for their crime, they only think how to get money fast and easy.

Drug addicts desperate for money normally don't show this type of sophistication. In this case, these two goons worked out a well-planned operation, and managed to convince the victim to do trade with them. They also selected their victim wisely. They chose someone who is inexperienced, and less likely to report the crime to the cops. Also, they knew that it is difficult to prove the theft of Btcoins.

you are right , this is a planned out operation, these goons have looted from a guy as they were desperate for some cash to fuel their drug habits, however he could have been more secure by leaving no traces that he has bitcoins, even here there have been lot of phishing attempts on users who were alleged to have huge amount of bitcoins, so one thing be safe and keep your mouth shut about your own bitcoins.

[futurebit640]

The guy met somewhere random and got inside the car of the buyer? serious flaw bro

[Lorenzo]

Surprising to see such thuggish behavior coming from Bitcoiners - who have so far tended to be nerdier, intelligent types.

Bitcoiners, if they choose to make their living through dishonest means, could probably make better use of their skills by hacking computers and exchange wallets, operating botnets, setting up scamcoins and scam services, operating pump and dump schemes, and writing malware while remaining undetected rather than stealing a few thousand dollars via force and physical violence (which carries a much greater chance of getting caught as well).

Interestingly, it's not the first time something like this has happened too:

http://www.geek.com/news/bitcoin-is-being-stolen-at-gunpoint-in-new-york-1616264/

Bitcoin already has a reputation for being susceptible to digital theft. While the average hoodlum is probably not intelligent enough to understand Bitcoin, there are criminal organizations in the US such as the Mafia which have members who are both intelligent and not afraid to resort to physical violence to get what they want. If Bitcoin catches on, we might be seeing more of these cases (i.e. physical theft of coins) in the future.

[panju1]

Surprising to see such thuggish behavior coming from Bitcoiners - who have so far tended to be nerdier, intelligent types.

Bitcoiners, if they choose to make their living through dishonest means, could probably make better use of their skills by hacking computers and exchange wallets, operating botnets, setting up scamcoins and scam services, operating pump and dump schemes, and writing malware while remaining undetected rather than stealing a few thousand dollars via force and physical violence (which carries a much greater chance of getting caught as well).

He probably was a thug who knew how to use Bitcoin. All it takes is some knowledge about how to use a phone. I doubt if the robbers were sophisticated enough to be hackers.

[brendanjhwu]

1100$ in bitcoins?
that wasnt worth it lol

Well usually people are mugged of their phones. Usually worth only $700 max

[bryant.coleman]

Well usually people are mugged of their phones. Usually worth only $700 max

People are really desperate sometimes, when they can't get money to feed their drug habits. I have heard about armed robberies, in which as little as $25 was stolen. That said, the perpetrator is also risking a lot. He faces up to 10 years in jail, or can be killed if the victim is armed. Sometimes drugs make people ignorant of the pending risks.

[BigBoy89]

Well usually people are mugged of their phones. Usually worth only $700 max

People are really desperate sometimes, when they can't get money to feed their drug habits. I have heard about armed robberies, in which as little as $25 was stolen. That said, the perpetrator is also risking a lot. He faces up to 10 years in jail, or can be killed if the victim is armed. Sometimes drugs make people ignorant of the pending risks.

Some people risk a big jail sentence for few dollars, people need to be more safe out there, scammers are getting cleverer and cleverer everyday, so be vigilant and don't fall for scammers and thieves.

[smith coins]

No there's  differences between a regular robbery and a bitcoin robbery .I'm glad to hear they seller weren't injured