[2017-11-16] Police Bust Turkish Gang That Kidnapped Wealthy Bitcoin Holders

[Terraformer]

Turkish police are toasting their success after capturing an enterprising gang of crypto kidnappers. Their targets were major bitcoin holders. The quintet were caught as they prepared to pounce on their second victim, having already extorted 450 bitcoins, worth U.S. $3.3 million, from a wealthy businessman.

Kidnapped for Crypto

The incident took place in Merter, a suburb in the west of Istanbul. As the country’s Habertürk newspaper reports, the audacious gang followed their first victim to his car before kidnapping him, laptop and all. They then pressurized the man into parting with 450 BTC. The ordeal lasted for eight hours, during which the victim was detained in a minibus and threatened with violence.

The criminals evidently weren’t very good at covering their tracks, both in the real world and online, and police were called to investigate after the shaken victim filed a complaint. After identifying the gang members, Turkish police launched a surveillance operation which included covertly filming the five-some as they went about their business.

What Happens on the Blockchain Stays on the Blockchain

In addition to conducting real-world surveillance, cybercrime officials followed suit, watching the flow of stolen coins as they passed through the blockchain. Police then launched a sting operation and succeeded in catching the culprits red-handed as they were preparing to kidnap their second victim. Turkish justice is swift and draconian, with a report stating that one of the ringleaders has been convicted of extortion and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

It appears the gang targeted their first victim after seeing social media posts in which he showed off his luxury lifestyle and posed alongside his beaming new fiancée. As cryptocurrency holders the world over are starting to learn, it’s prudent not to flaunt your wealth. Bitcoin doesn’t attract criminals – money attracts criminals. As the price of bitcoin continues to rise, the need to keep crypto portfolios locked down and low-key heightens.

https://news.bitcoin.com/police-bust-turkish-gang-kidnapped-wealthy-bitcoin-holders/

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[Taki]

This is bad planned crime obviously, but I wander how do they find that guy, I mean how did they found he has a lot of coins?
All this story teaches us to not share our success on the social networks.

[Games.Bitcoin]

It must feel pretty scary walking around with 100 btc on your phone... not that anyone could steal the btc, but people may treat you differently at that stage of wealth.

[Hateculd75]

This is bad planned crime obviously, but I wander how do they find that guy, I mean how did they found he has a lot of coins?
All this story teaches us to not share our success on the social networks.

We each have a computer that tells governments some information, such as IP addresses, sales and purchases, and other information that tells the police where we are, and therefore they can arrest the two cases and take their money.
they may found huge amount of bitcoin in his area then they in this area till find him
The use of platforms, identity verification and other things makes it easy to track you and steal your money.

[steadyrice]

450 BTC is definitely no joke. Glad the police busted them though. Just goes on to show you that you have to take more care of your bitcoins and not carry them around with you, especially if you have a lot of them.

[ALT67890]

I have read the same news about this scenario in Hong Kong. And it is the proof that bitcoin and Blockchain technology is traceable transactions. But in fiat it is more common because every personal information is available. And maybe it is also a co-incidents that is not pointed out as the businessman has bitcoin but it is picked accordingly for its wealth and assuming he does have bitcoin on hand. We can also assume that the one offer it is the businessman who will not lost much on bitcoin because he bought it cheaply before.

[TheKeyLongThumbI]

It must feel pretty scary walking around with 100 btc on your phone... not that anyone could steal the btc, but people may treat you differently at that stage of wealth.

It will not be scary if you won't let them know. And just put enough amount of bitcoin in your phone and if ever they try to threaten your life and they successfully have your bitcoins, don't worry because if you know your address then they will be tracked by authorities easily.

[Rahar02]

That's why show off your bitcoin or your wealth on social media isn't a good thing; Bitcoin doesn’t attract criminals – money attracts criminals. ~  it’s prudent not to flaunt your wealth. Criminals won't try to kidnap or threat your life in order to get your private keys or wallet's password. The best way to save bitcoin is; keep it in cold storage, don't let anyone know you have it. Make sure you have every backup data to restore bitcoin just in case something happens, such as your phone or laptop stolen.

[1Referee]

This is bad planned crime obviously, but I wander how do they find that guy, I mean how did they found he has a lot of coins?
All this story teaches us to not share our success on the social networks.

People are utter idiots. Just look at how many clowns are sharing with the whole world that they have bought thousands of Bitcoins for just a few cent a piece back in the days, and are now multi millionaires. People nowadays can be easily found through all sorts of social media platforms, and from there it's a piece of cake to trace that person down accurately, especially if it's a well known individual in the community. I definitely understand that you're proud of your achievement in becoming a millionaire out of nothing, but what's the point of being loud about it? It has only negative consequences. If I extort you to send me 100BTC, and you do so as I said, how are you going to prove me wrong in case I claim that I bought them from you in a P2P way? I don't know what you did with your money, and strictly speaking, that's not even my problem. Good luck with that!

[jekjekman]

Criminals are really good in innovating their wrong doings. It was a great idea to
ask for bitcoin instead of cash as a ransom money but they did not covered their track well still.

Maybe they should have used a mixing service which are available for free for the
authorities not to trace those coins on the blockchain. 

[Domenc]

First, of all if you start showing off your wealth online and that too in Bitcoin; then probably one should also prepare for its consequences. Bitcoin’s rising demand and value has caught everyone’s eye and now everyone want to become rich using Bitcoin overnight; due to which some are getting involved in gambling, faucets sites, gaming sites and now kidnapping. But in this case, it is clearly depicted that Kidnappers also lacked significant knowledge due to which they were caught red-handed in their next case. It acts as a lesson for Bitcoin holder’s to act wisely with their Bitcoin and cutting off unnecessary show-off.