Man Robbed at Gunpoint for $1,100 Worth of Bitcoins in Brooklyn

[haroldtee]

You wanna do a face to face exchange in a secluded area? This is not even about exchange of bitcoin. Could be anything, Gold, valuable goods etc. I think the seller wasn't just smart and he should be more careful next time. Can happen to anyone if careless, so lessons learnt. Also, I detest the fact that bitcoin is always used as an excuse for the increase in crime like crime has not been existing even before bitcoin came into existence. Please! Gimme a break!!

[BitHodler]

Sad to hear for that person, but this article doesn't state anything about what device has been used to transfer the funds to the robber. It's a pretty empty article to be honest.

This is important because the victim in question could attempt to double spend his coins (obviously assuming the outgoing transaction wasn't yet confirmed).

Important lesson ~ if you go face to face to settle deals, do it in a McDonald's building, or any other crowded place.

[slaman29]

I'll bet any time now if we were to make some study on data, Bitcoin-related crime would still be the lowest percentage of all currency crimes. Hope the Brooklyn guy knows how to track his stolen coin (yes, isn't that wonderful, unlike fiat you can track it from your computer at home).

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Threads like this don't really interest me much in a sense that it's going to effect me using bitcoin. People get robbed for items of value every day, it's no worse with bitcoin. Search any local newspaper or crime records & you'll see stories about phones, cash, cars, watches getting stolen.

This is no big deal & certainly nothing to scare bitcoin'ers.

[bartolo]

The strange thing in this story is that the seller was who stole the buyer´s bitcoins. The most logical thing had been to steal his cash money, which he was going to use to buy the bitcoins.

[squatz1]

Sadly enough, this sort of stuff is going to become more and more expected with people who own bitcoin (if people know that is) if the price continues to rise and rise or to simply just stick at what it is. This is one of the main reasons I would never do any sort of Bitcoin currency exchange in person, unless of course you're going to be doing the Transaction in a Police Office, or one of those desginated safe places for trading in your town.

Fucking crazy though, the worlds a changing and it doesn't seem to be changing for the better.

[chaser15]

That's very unlucky and feel sorry for the victim.

Meetups is actively present here in my country. As of now, no such thing as reported a case like that. To ensure safety, meetups must be on public places with lots of people around. CCTV is not necessary as long as you are prepared. Also never go alone and try to be accompanied by at least couple of friends (obviously be accompanied with a guy that can adopt the situation when there is an emergency).

I've no doubt the robber's arm got extremely sore waiting for the theft transaction to confirm.  lol

Maybe after it was send, the robber just assumed that it should be confirmed later even it hasn't established yet on the network. So walk out quickly after it was being send. lol

[erikalui]

Just when people thought that F2F transactions are safer than online transactions, such incidents prove that those who deal with bitcoins are far more dangerous. We can't really rely on who and when will turn out to be a scammer and craigslist is always targetted by scammers/hackers. Even earlier a man was robbed in a car when he went to meet the buyer in a known place. He was caught behind and asked to transfer all the coins. The police also doesn't help in such cases which is sick. No CCTV but IP addresses can be tracked. Their phone locations, some proof can be got?

[magneto]

This is definitely not the first case of this happening. Trading on localbitcoins has been extremely risky when you are doing local trades because for some reason you are dealing with someone that does not have a bank account, doesn't want to use other safer and less expensive payment methods, only wants to deal with cash which is untraceable and wants to apparently only deal locally when he's not even a local.

If you decide to trade with one locally, make sure that he has 100+ feedback. Make sure that all his docs are verified and make sure you trade near a bank or shopping mall. And don't do large amounts either, bring a weapon of some sort jsut in case.

Just when people thought that F2F transactions are safer than online transactions, such incidents prove that those who deal with bitcoins are far more dangerous. We can't really rely on who and when will turn out to be a scammer and craigslist is always targetted by scammers/hackers. Even earlier a man was robbed in a car when he went to meet the buyer in a known place. He was caught behind and asked to transfer all the coins. The police also doesn't help in such cases which is sick. No CCTV but IP addresses can be tracked. Their phone locations, some proof can be got?

Your point is valid but practically no one is going to track down IP addresses. They prove absolutely nothing because I addresses can change over time by themselves, others can fake your IP and you can connect to a VPN yourself. The biggest concern for online dealings is fraud whilst offline it's your life.

[rytyr]

Some people are beyond stupid. When dealing with craigslist, ALWAYS deal at a police station fucking DUH!

If you're going to sell bitcoins, at least do so in a crowed area with surveillance, like a coffee shop or something, damn.

There are actually spots around the USA with the sign "Safe Craigslist Trade Area" with 24/7 Audio/Video Surveillance. It all comes down to the person's knowledge, I guess. That's the right word.

Have yet to spot one of these signs, but surveillance cameras are a great start.

Seems some police stations offer/recommend this as as well:
http://www.safetradestations.com

That is exactly what I was referring to in my response to this post.
There are designated places now monitored by the police when doing these "online sales" of your items.
It is a closed area usually within the police station or an office at the side of the station where there are cctv cameras located so everything is caught on tape and you are secure in knowing you have this so called "backup" if any funny business goes a rye.
The police are right there and will go in hard if they have a gun or a knife trying to rob you.
Those offenders will be arrested right then and there while your possession you are trying to obtain or sell are kept safe on your person.

[henkcryptotank]

Sad for this guy but it was not exactly a smart move!

Greets Hank

[Ging]

I wish there was an app wallet that after entering with a stress password any transactions sent afterwards could be somehow flagged then miners would never confirm such transactions, lol the thief wont wait for more than a few minutes to receive confirmation then you could blame the Bitcoin network.
In my country if we insert our credit card pin number in reverse it will notify the police of robbery in progress with the exact location.

Yes me too 

[iamTom123]

Well, this is quite expected as the value of Bitcoin is now rising greatly there would be people online who can be planning to victimized us. The point here is that meeting someone somewhere can be risky it does not matter if you have Bitcoin or just cash. Now, if there is a need to someone for the first time you must do it in a public place like a crowded restaurant so the other side can think twice before pointing any gun at you. Better yet, avoid selling your Bitcoin offline.

[digaran]

Another scenario could be the bankers/governments and their hitmen trying to scare people from dealing face to face to reduce the tax evasion as much as possible, because you know when people read these kind of trades could become dangerous and guns could be involved like drug dealers and stuff like that we see in movies. lol twice. I'd recommend not to pay attention to these propaganda stunts and psychological games and do all the trades like this and make sure to use a mixer as always and avoid paying taxes as much as possible, I believe governments and their people are too fat by now and there are already a lot of guns and weapons, tanks and bombs all made by your taxes money.

[mk4]

While digital currencies are slowly making themselves known to the world starting with Bitcoin followed by Ethereum, carrying digital currencies with you pose the same threat as having traditional fiat. Such is the case of a 28-year-old New Yorker who fell victim to a Bitcoin theft.

According to a report, the victim was to meet with a Bitcoin seller whom he contacted through Craigslist in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Upon meeting the “seller”, a gun was pointed at him and the “seller” demanded $1,100 worth of Bitcoin to be transferred to his Bitcoin wallet.

The case is still under investigation as there wasn’t any CCTV footage of the crime.

Very unfortunate for the guy. Knowing that there will be a good number of bitcoin to be transacted, he should have probably brought some friends maybe? for extra security; or maybe choose a public location (near banks, or anywhere with security). Like hell, that's almost half a bitcoin. huge amount.

People should keep their bitcoin like how they keep their FIAT. If you don't need to bring out that big of an amount, then don't; just like how we leave our bigger sums of money at home or at the bank.

Unfortunately we have nothing to stop bitcoin physical theft. Thieves have been around forever, and they ain't going anywhere. People just need to take care of their assets carefully.

[scout5]

I feel very sorry for him. That's a good amount of BTC there.

But how did he get robbed so easily? did they choose like a dark alley at like 3am or something?

[ASHLIUSZ]

This incident shows that​ bitcoin popularity has been keep on increasing. Now thieves has known about it and trying to make use of it, because there won't be any trace of the transaction. Looking at the incident I feel the value is quite low compared to the scammers who doesn't even use guns, but transfer very huge volume of bitcoin cheating people.

[Qartada]

Soon thieves will prefer pickpocketing your smart phones rather than taking your wallets because you might have more virtual than real cash with you 

This is why we have hidden passphrases and additional wallets.
The lessons are:

1.  Trade in a public place where many people can see you and there is surveillance.
2.  Only transfer as much to your phone's wallet as you need for that specific trade.
3.  Start using hidden passphrases and other systems to avoid showing the robber more than you need to.

[joshy23]

This incident shows that​ bitcoin popularity has been keep on increasing. Now thieves has known about it and trying to make use of it, because there won't be any trace of the transaction. Looking at the incident I feel the value is quite low compared to the scammers who doesn't even use guns, but transfer very huge volume of bitcoin cheating people.

Of course criminals will target bitcoin holders now because the price is really growing. There is no difference from buying drugs with bitcoin or some terrorist organization using bitcoin to transfer funds. Its all criminally and illegal ways. I feel sorry for the person involved, it is a hard lessons as well. Next time trade in a crowded places so that you will feel safe.

[pixie85]

Soon thieves will prefer pickpocketing your smart phones rather than taking your wallets because you might have more virtual than real cash with you 

I also believe this is going to happen and not only because of bitcoin wallets. Wallets are usually encrypted and people don't carry huge money in their mobile phones.
What makes the thieves target phones are their ridiculous prices. A new model can cost over $1000. That's more than a good PC or a bicycle, but much easier to steal.