NYC man robbed of bitcoins

[jonald_fyookball]

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

be careful on lbc

[achow101]

That's why you always do the trade in daylight in a public place where there are lots of witnesses. The more people around, the less likely this happens.

[MakingMoneyHoney]

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

be careful on lbc

It was craigslist. Not that you shouldn't be careful anywhere, anyway. And why is it that people tell children, "Don't get in cars with strangers" but adults do it easily when money is on the line?

[Brewins]

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

be careful on lbc

It looks really similar to a fake news posted somewhere last year. That not few people took as real until proven false

[bryant.coleman]

According to the cops, the robbery was not Bitcoin-related. The robbers were after his fiat cash and the credit cards. He was forced to give his credit card PIN number to the robbers, and might have already lost tens of thousands of USD. I just hope that the perpetrators will be arrested soon and removed from the general population.

[anderson00673]

Why would anyone publish such a fake article?

I hope this is not the setting of a precedent.

[Q7]

The first thing that comes into my mind is why the victim willingly follows the robber into the car. If you've read further there is a woman involved so my suspicion is probably the guy thought it was harmless in way to get into a car with a woman before realizing it was a trap. Moral of the story, there is no such thing as free lunch. 

[shorena]

That's why you always do the trade in daylight in a public place where there are lots of witnesses. The more people around, the less likely this happens.

I remember a story about a deal in front of the louvre paris france (it hardly gets more public) in broad daylight and they still tried to run with the phone. I have to be careful everywhere and regardless of the light situation, probably good to bring a broad-shouldered friend. Just in case.

[Poolie]

People need to be careful with their coins just as much as cash. It's also probably much more likely you would get robbed of your cash rather than btc.

The first thing that comes into my mind is why the victim willingly follows the robber into the car. If you've read further there is a woman involved so my suspicion is probably the guy thought it was harmless in way to get into a car with a woman before realizing it was a trap. Moral of the story, there is no such thing as free lunch. 

I get free lunch all the time. Moral of the story is people need to weigh up the likelihood of getting conned or the dangers of the situation.

[Sythyn]

this is really bad it's bad but humans will be humans 

[dothebeats]

---
"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."
---

Why would a person willingly go inside someone's car just to seal a deal? They could've probably go to a place where there are people so as to ensure each party's safety. Also, I think this is a fake news aiming to put the silk road issue. Because what does this sentence do to the topic of the article?

In March, two federal agents who were investigating Silk Road — the underground online Web site where users buy drugs and weapons using bitcoins — were busted for pocketing the virtual currency for their own personal use.

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, was sentenced to life in prison last week after he was found guilty of running the black-market site.

[Light]

I remember a story about a deal in front of the louvre paris france (it hardly gets more public) in broad daylight and they still tried to run with the phone. I have to be careful everywhere and regardless of the light situation, probably good to bring a broad-shouldered friend. Just in case.

Well having a crowd/public area doesn't stop anyone from committing a crime. It just makes it less likely they'll get away - so they have less reason to go through with it. That being said, in an extremely crowded place like the Lourve stealing from someone and rushing into the throng of people is actually a more efficient means of getting away (you blend in) whereas in a less crowded location like a cafe people might actually be able to purse the thief.

[rugbyma]

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

be careful on lbc

That's why I never do F2F on LBC, You practically go to meet a stranger having a computer/or a pocket full of cash. and even if you do that Having the trade in any place other than a bank, a full park, a busy restaurant or a  busy street is crazy IMO. I recall reading a story about something like this happening to one of this forum members too, but he escaped without losing the bitcoins.

btw the "this is a stickup of your virtual cash!" intro to topic isn't accurate, it's virtual cash but can be converted to real cash easily, it's like saying that stealing a creditcard is someone robbing plastic or a cheque thief being picking up pieces of paper...

[unamis76]

Not sure if this story is fake, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it is true...

People should be more careful, as Bitcoin is the new target for theifs

[Fuserleer]

Media are hyping this up just because it's Bitcoin

How many people get held a gun point every week to withdraw cash from an ATM?

Its the same thing, you divulge you have wealth of some form, you're at just as much risk of getting mugged no matter the asset.

[Bitware]

Bitcoin exchanging sounds like a good business for banks and check cashing establishments to get involved in as on-the-spot escrow providers.

[pawel7777]

According to the cops, the robbery was not Bitcoin-related. The robbers were after his fiat cash and the credit cards. He was forced to give his credit card PIN number to the robbers, and might have already lost tens of thousands of USD. I just hope that the perpetrators will be arrested soon and removed from the general population.

I think you're referring to the previous, similar case (also happened in NY):

In February, the New York Observer reported quoted a bitcoin dealer named Dean Katz, who described how he had been robbed at gunpoint by a man in Queens who had arranged to meet him to buy bitcoin so the man could gamble on the Super Bowl. Katz said he was forced to transfer $8,500 worth of bitcoin and also was robbed of $3,500 in cash.
...
The Observer article said that a New York City firefighter had been stabbed during a robbery of bitcoins that he had agreed to sell. But police on Friday told CNBC that that robbery, which occurred on Feb. 9, "is not bitcoin related." The firefighter's credit card and PIN number were stolen, and he was stabbed in the arm, police said.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102737187

That's all pretty confusing. Katz claims to be robbed out of BTC, while police say his case is not bitcoin-related (?).

[BTI4LIFE]

According to the cops, the robbery was not Bitcoin-related. The robbers were after his fiat cash and the credit cards. He was forced to give his credit card PIN number to the robbers, and might have already lost tens of thousands of USD. I just hope that the perpetrators will be arrested soon and removed from the general population.

I think you're referring to the previous, similar case (also happened in NY):

In February, the New York Observer reported quoted a bitcoin dealer named Dean Katz, who described how he had been robbed at gunpoint by a man in Queens who had arranged to meet him to buy bitcoin so the man could gamble on the Super Bowl. Katz said he was forced to transfer $8,500 worth of bitcoin and also was robbed of $3,500 in cash.
...
The Observer article said that a New York City firefighter had been stabbed during a robbery of bitcoins that he had agreed to sell. But police on Friday told CNBC that that robbery, which occurred on Feb. 9, "is not bitcoin related." The firefighter's credit card and PIN number were stolen, and he was stabbed in the arm, police said.

http://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/id/102737187

That's all pretty confusing. Katz claims to be robbed out of BTC, while police say his case is not bitcoin-related (?).

*edit*>> all your shitcoin are belong to katz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us

[Fuserleer]

Shouldn't that be "All your coin are belong to us"

Sorry......

[Lauda]

The media is deffinitely corrupted. These things happen quite often with different things being sold. I actually know a local case where a person went to buy a phone, he was beaten and his money taken.

Media are hyping this up just because it's Bitcoin

How many people get held a gun point every week to withdraw cash from an ATM?

Its the same thing, you divulge you have wealth of some form, you're at just as much risk of getting mugged no matter the asset.

I'm going to disregard the possibility of this news being fake. You're definitely right about this. According to the FBI: Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 367,832 robberies; so what makes this one so special?
Nothing. This just shows us that even robbers are finding interest in Bitcoin.

That's why you always do the trade in daylight in a public place where there are lots of witnesses. The more people around, the less likely this happens.

We definitely need to make people aware of this. Going alone to meet a stranger is very dangerous.