First UK's bitcoin robbery. Stay safe.

[pawel7777]

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

Edit2: Please don't quote this entire post when replying unless it's necessary (almost never is). It makes thread harder to read and it's a bad practice.

Edit3: another, more horrific story from Moscow: https://cointelegraph.com/news/moscow-man-mutilated-and-mugged-for-1-million-in-bitcoin-local-sources-report

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[metenjean]

Everything can surely be done at gunpoint, i dont think we can prevent anything about that besides we do transactions without middleman just between wallet. If we do a transactions from a bank, then if any of that transaction arose suspicious, the bank can definitely cancel or pending that transaction for further notice. But with bitcoin everything is different, it didnt have any regulations and no one responsible for your wallet beside your own.

[aleksej996]

I don't think adding new features in exchanges is what would help here, as this is quite the short term situation that many users hold their funds in exchanges.
In future, hopefully, you will not be exchanging BTC, you will be buying stuff with it. And hopefully users would be using their own software wallets.
Using exchanges increases your risk of being hacked in the first place, as centralized exchanges get hacked all the time, more often than people getting robbed. Same applies to other web wallets.

You can always add this into blockchain itself. You can simply lock most of your BTC with locktime transactions that would have the same effect as the delay that you are suggesting and you would be exposed to extra risk of holding your funds in a web wallet.

[shulio]

3 months ago, an exchange owner has been kidnapped by robbers in Turkey. They forced the exchange owner to give private key of the cold wallet. Then the police had caught the robbers and rescued the exchange owner.

[penig]

Very little you can do in this scenario, one practical advice from the world of bullion/jewellery is to keep valuables offsite.  In the case of crypto that means holding only an operational amount in wallet close at hand, the rest in cold wallets on a physically different secure location. 

[btcwish1]

This is really a scary news for all of us.  But "No arrest has been made'' scares me even more there must be cc tv camera every where. These criminals need to be arrested asap.

[penig]

This is really a scary news for all of us.  But "No arrest has been made'' scares me even more there must be cc tv camera every where.

Outside town centers there are very few CCTV cameras, usually only garages or few private homes.

[Soke]

There will be many more similar incidents like this around the world.  Safest thing you can do is to remain anonymous when you're involved with cryptocurrencies.  Don't go out getting a "BITCOIN" license plate on your Lamborghini.

[walterw]

i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Wow. That's really scary! I also hope that it will not be a new trend for criminals.
I think that it is practically possible to introduce a delay, but it is probably very impractical for a transaction that you desperately wants to do (An advantage of BTC is the speed of transactions.). In addition, criminals could then force their victim to turn off the security measure (if it should be a security measure that needs to be activated).
So we would be back at the beginning. Of course, I agree with you that more safety measures should be introduced.

[jlanzago]

I think you should always have a hardwallet such as Trezor or Ledger, and you should keep it inside a safe, if you have a lot of Bitcoins probably even in a security vault at the bank. And the backup phrases also somewhere safe.

[vintages]

Ya, I saw the news and also this is been discussed in a thread here; https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004
Though, this sort of incident have happened in the US some time ago, last year particularly. This way of stealing bitcoin will soon be an arising issue in months to come. On how to protect yourself; As suggested by a user in the thread, you may want to equipt yourself with protective weapons like pepper spray or hand knife but if skeptical  you may simply choose to avoid been know as a bitcoin trader or investor.

[Soke]

I think you should always have a hardwallet such as Trezor or Ledger, and you should keep it inside a safe, if you have a lot of Bitcoins probably even in a security vault at the bank. And the backup phrases also somewhere safe.

That doesn't matter when you have a gun pointed at your head.  You will go get that Ledger or Trezor and transfer them your cryptocurrencies.  Best thing is to not advertise yourself as having cryptos.  

[pawel7777]

I think you should always have a hardwallet such as Trezor or Ledger, and you should keep it inside a safe, if you have a lot of Bitcoins probably even in a security vault at the bank. And the backup phrases also somewhere safe.

Hardware wallets/on-site safe wouldn't work. You'll just be forced to open the safe and transfer funds.


Other idea, is having smaller wallet/alternative exchange account that you keep only small portion of your holdings, but not too small. Then you could say that's all you got and hopefully robbers would take it and f**k off.

There will be many more similar incidents like this around the world.  Safest thing you can do is to remain anonymous when you're involved with cryptocurrencies.  Don't go out getting a "BITCOIN" license plate on your Lamborghini.

This is obviously good advise. Stay anonymous and don't brag about your mad crypto gains.
But not everyone can stay in the shadows, the victim in this case was/is running cryptocurrency trading firm, assuming the operations involve trading on behalf of clients and that his firm was registered, staying anonymous was not an option for the guy.

Ya, I saw the news and also this is been discussed in a thread here; https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004
...

Thanks. Updated OP with the link.

[bit-freedom]

I think you should always have a hardwallet such as Trezor or Ledger, and you should keep it inside a safe, if you have a lot of Bitcoins probably even in a security vault at the bank. And the backup phrases also somewhere safe.

That doesn't matter when you have a gun pointed at your head.  You will go get that Ledger or Trezor and transfer them your cryptocurrencies.  Best thing is to not advertise yourself as having cryptos.  

I agree with your views. It is better to stay low profile to reduce the possibility being targeted. Hope everyone stay safe from such incidents.

[audaciousbeing]

This is another dark side that is being opened in the crypto world and I must say this is the first time reading about this although I have imagined something like this before. Of getting robbed and checking your phone only to realize that there is a crypto currency app on your phone only to be forced at gun point to transfer everything. This is even worse because if it had been bank, you might be able to withdraw your fund if its not withdrawn yet but bitcoin, the moment one confirmation is done that is the end.

In protecting one self, I don't think its going to be any easy as you are trying to stay safe online, some other people are coming against you offline and this is a lesson for everyone. As because of his activities that is why he was targeted so, we need to be discreet in how we loud and make noise of our activities as it relates to bitcoin because when it happens, the whole of life time effort might have been swept while there is no one to report to.

[btcprospecter]

Unfortunately with the value added to bitcoin and crypto currency and certain anonymity criminals will try to rob people for bitcoin. The robbers would have to have a certain level of knowledge about bitcoin to even target this guy. I don't think there is much you can do to prevent such incidents apart from not letting anyone know about your crypto.

[miyaka26]

That's the whole point of being anonymous, to prevent such calamity from being targeted by this thieves because if they know that you are in a business with crypto they will assume that you have millions of dollars that are worth from each coin you deal with your business or trading, in short, they will assume that you are rich as cryptocurrency increases and expands every day. robbery still exist from other kinds of businesses but it is scary that they begin to have an idea to attack some holders of virtual currency, so bragging about your business with cryptocurrency is not a good idea.

[HasHe]

I think you should always have a hardwallet such as Trezor or Ledger, and you should keep it inside a safe, if you have a lot of Bitcoins probably even in a security vault at the bank. And the backup phrases also somewhere safe.

Hardware wallets/on-site safe wouldn't work. You'll just be forced to open the safe and transfer funds.


Other idea, is having smaller wallet/alternative exchange account that you keep only small portion of your holdings, but not too small. Then you could say that's all you got and hopefully robbers would take it and f**k off.

There will be many more similar incidents like this around the world.  Safest thing you can do is to remain anonymous when you're involved with cryptocurrencies.  Don't go out getting a "BITCOIN" license plate on your Lamborghini.

This is obviously good advise. Stay anonymous and don't brag about your mad crypto gains.
But not everyone can stay in the shadows, the victim in this case was/is running cryptocurrency trading firm, assuming the operations involve trading on behalf of clients and that his firm was registered, staying anonymous was not an option for the guy.

Ya, I saw the news and also this is been discussed in a thread here; https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004
...

Thanks. Updated OP with the link.

Absolutely,this guy was running a trading firm and therefore,in no way he could have stayed anonymous.But for others using cryptos,they would just have to not express their lavish kind of life style in any of the social media which could turn against them.

Now every one is aware that bitcoin is a very valuable asset and probably most of them holding bitcoins in large numbers are millionaires.So,more the number of bitcoins more the security threat.

Bitcoin being pseudo anonymous and not even legalized in most of the countries,chances are zero for recovering the lost bitcoins.

[The_Real_One]

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins?

That's blooming obvious. Do the same as Satoshi, stay anonymous.

Don't make your face, ID, live in public for the criminals to see.

[bitcoinmasterlord]

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins?

That's blooming obvious. Do the same as Satoshi, stay anonymous.

Don't make your face, ID, live in public for the criminals to see.

Exactly why you show others that you are using cryptocurrencies. Hide your identity and don't tell anyone regarding your bitcoin activity.

Actually, this is the time to tell about bitcoin to others to promote bitcoin. But we have to give 1st preference to our loved one. Family safety is important.

[bering]

i wondering why the robbers know this family have huge amount of bitcoin and apparently the robbers was following bitcoin trend and more likely to choose stole digital asset rather than physical asset but indeed this is first time to heards cryptocurrencies robbery but i wish this is could be the first and the last time we heard because will be very dangerous for us as bitcoin users

[Caledfwlch]

If there is anyone who is worried about this then its my personal opinion that the best thing you can do is hold multiple hard wallets. A sacrificial wallet which, should you ever be threaten personally or through family, you give up. The other wallet.. well quite literally don't tell anyone about it ever.

Equally, if you have a sufficient amount of BTC that you are worth robbing perhaps you could spend some of it on security or a BG? who knows lol.

[pawel7777]

i wondering why the robbers know this family have huge amount of bitcoin ...

Victim has at least 2 companies, one of them changed its name to "Aston Digital Currencies Ltd" in September 2017. The registered office of that company is also the victim's home address. This data is publicly available. Although I think the robbers got a tip/contract from someone more knowledgeable. You can't know whether he held any worthy amounts of crypto just from company's name.

[Jet Cash]

Some interesting replies about this in Yesterday's thread in the Ivory Tower.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.0

[oddwh]

Such a sad story, indeed.

It's hard to protect us versus this, best way would be to split our currencies into multiples wallets as said Caledfwlch, in this way, even if a thief steal us, he couldn't know we own multiples wallets (let's hope he doesn't know exacly how much we own).

So yeah, we lose a bit, but we still have the rest protected, and we're safe.

[vaughn125]

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

to be honest, i really am not surprised that something like this really did happen.
if you think about it, it is pretty logical that criminals will also target crypto people since they can see money on doing so. and i mean a huge amount of money. which is why i am pretty paranoid about choosing who i inform about what i really do. which i think is what most of you should really consider as early as now. do not be careless. because i can really assure you that more of this is obviously about to come. not just in uk but most probably around the globe. as technologies progress, everything follows this progression. and crimes are not exempted.

stay safe guys.

[Cryptosaint$]

Yea this is going to start popping up more and more. The idea has been given to the criminals, so they are guna run rampant with it for a while.

But when you are being held at gunpoint what do you do??

[drakegon]

Damn, that's insane. This surely sends a signal to all of us crypto traders and pretty much we are all at risk. Specially by adding our info to bounty campaigns...

[joebrook]

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

That's why people shouldn't be telling anyone their business at all, without doubt there is an inside man involved here somehow, I think we should all be quiet about what we do so that we don't get any of these unwanted attentions.

[IanDev]

The #1 way thieves decide who to rob, is by hearing rumors on the street.

If you ever catch a break doing anything, try not to talk about it to everyone.

[NorrisK]

This was to be expected to happen sooner or later. The fact that transfers cannot be reversed makes it much more attractive than forcing a fiat millionaire to transfer fiat.

This is one more reason to stay as anonymous as possible and not to brag about your holdings to friends.

Another good option is to make a seperate accessible wallet that can be used as a decoy. (e.g. one that holds a few % of your holdings)

[saedasda]

This is the beginning we can see a lot more incident like this but we can avoid those incident. Personally keep your bitcoin to ledger and trezor and I dont tell or posting to social medias about cryptocurrency so they dont know that im using it.

[7788bitcoin]

Victim has at least 2 companies, one of them changed its name to "Aston Digital Currencies Ltd" in September 2017. The registered office of that company is also the victim's home address. This data is publicly available. Although I think the robbers got a tip/contract from someone more knowledgeable. You can't know whether he held any worthy amounts of crypto just from company's name.

The reason for the robbers targeting his home is obvious ,he does run a digital currency company and the robbers wont be that dump to figure out if he bluffed and showed him any wallet,certainly he was not expecting any of this and he was forced to give away what he has saved in his wallet,this where privacy is important ,we are submitting our entire details to exchanges as part of KYC and how can you be certain that those details are stored safely,it is a really scary situation.

[walterw]

Bitcoin is safe against these operations and the biggest proof of that is the first operation since 2011.
On the other hand, one must deal cautiously with Deep/Dark internet.
Save your pvt key in a safe place and try to use strong VPN.
use some safe coins like monero  with risky payment.

Have you even read what the OP has posted? This is not a digital attack and not "Deep / Dark Net", but a physical attack with handguns.
It is difficult to protect yourself if you are not prepared for it. No one assumes that you will be robbed because of btc or other altcoins.
You can hide your private key in a safe, but I'll tell you, as soon as someone hits you with a pistol, you'll give him the private key voluntarily.
Not even the best safe in the world will help. Also, a VPN does not help or another cryptocurrency.
It seems to me, as if you had actually not read the post of the OP.

The best way to protect yourself from such attacks is that you do not tell everyone how many or that you own btc at all.

[kasansa]

It's a warning to bitcoin holders. They could no more remain careless as before because now almost everyone seems to know the worth of bitcoin.

[vv181]

That is why it's so important to keep your privacy and anonymity hidden. We know cryptocurrencies have advantages in term of untraceable currencies, and the ecosystem contains a lot of anonymity. I'm sure keeping your identity private on the internet is essentials.

[tuskacz]

Forced him? How? Trader who cannot afford security company? LOL

[Justin Dowman]

Anonymity ... Privacy ... Privacy
X100

[countryfree]

Well, I guess this was bound to happen. I was expecting such a thing to happen in Texas though, and not in the UK. There are no more safe places in this world.

I think I have a solution. You just need several wallets. If you look at my computer, you will see right away a BTC icon to my wallet, but there's little money in it. Most of BTC lies in other wallets, but there's nothing to show that I'm having several wallets, which are... Elsewhere. And you would have to hurt me real bad, to force me to tell you that those wallets actually exist.

[alyssa85]

That is why it's so important to keep your privacy and anonymity hidden. We know cryptocurrencies have advantages in term of untraceable currencies, and the ecosystem contains a lot of anonymity. I'm sure keeping your identity private on the internet is essentials.

Yes - and don't brag, you just incentivise people to try to dox you.

So many people want to show off, for 30 seconds of puffing their egos, but apart from telling your wife, keep quiet about how much you have made.

[denzkilim]

I think you should always have a hardwallet such as Trezor or Ledger, and you should keep it inside a safe, if you have a lot of Bitcoins probably even in a security vault at the bank. And the backup phrases also somewhere safe.

That doesn't matter when you have a gun pointed at your head.  You will go get that Ledger or Trezor and transfer them your cryptocurrencies.  Best thing is to not advertise yourself as having cryptos.  

Yeah correct, Life is much valuable than crypto currencies you hodl, and your mind will surely panic when you are in a horrific situation like that and. The news about the robbery is kinda alarming, Better to be silent if you have crypto's than telling the whole world that you have and your part of the crypto community. Precaution is better than cure just like the doctors says, If you know what I mean.

[KingScorpio]

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

honestly bitcoin owners wont have much public protection,

because the public has to pay for it with higher electricity bills,

i dont even feel sorry for you because i see you as a propagandistic selfcentered fanatic sect.

there will anyway come a time where there wont be communal currencies anymore its called:

the time beyond prices and the time with the coins of style and leadership

regards

[drwhobox]

Adding some things with your exchanges would not even make anything change. We're running on a peer to peer system there are no middle man(s) to check the transaction or hold the address of the person who robed you.

This may become a new thing when it comes to illegal activities like robbery. The best whay to do is just don't let them know that you're holding cryptocurrencies.

[Geoll29]

This is a very sad news. I think the victim may have known the robbers or the mastermind or the person who tipped them. If we have lots of money in bitcoin don't tell them to anyone. Keep it by yourself or to someone who you trust.

[UAE Seasider]

I first heard about this yesterday, and I suspect it must have been facilitated from a connected person who knew what they were doing. Better to keep your financial activities confidential. The blockchain is however traceable and even savvy thieves moving crypto around will leave a trail on the blockchain that cyber crime can follow when they try to cash out?

[pawel7777]

honestly bitcoin owners wont have much public protection,

They have the same level of protection as any other members of the public.

because the public has to pay for it with higher electricity bills,

Not really. Mining uses shitload of energy but not enough to cause shortage. Electricity prices in UK (and most likely in other European countries) are holding steady since 2009. Small increases are due to inflation and rising network costs, while the 'wholesale price' of electricity are actually dropping.

i dont even feel sorry for you because i see you as a propagandistic selfcentered fanatic sect.

Fair enough. There's a lot of cult-like behaviour here, but yet, the most constructive and harsh criticism of btc/crypto (pointing vulnerabilities, flaws, potential attack vectors etc) is coming from the community itself rather than from the outside.

there will anyway come a time where there wont be communal currencies anymore its called:

the time beyond prices and the time with the coins of style and leadership

I won't even pretend that I understand what you wrote here. It smells like a product of "bullshit generator". I hope I'm not replying to a bot.

[datodota002]

wow a haven't think robbery like that, this is a lesson for us people. From the good there is the bad, bitcoin is something very precious than we thing, and so precious bitcoin bring in evil near us. This robbery, make us to be careful to make some transaction to other people in real world. i hope wallet developer take action to something like this and make a precautionary measure or like a panic button for such a situation

[Mr.Smithers]

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins?

That's blooming obvious. Do the same as Satoshi, stay anonymous.

Don't make your face, ID, live in public for the criminals to see.

yes, keep a low profile - that is one.
And two - buy yourself a hardware wallet and configure it to have all your funds safely under one PIN and your "hot wallet" - a fraction of your funds - under another PIN. If you are made to reveal your PIN with a gun against your head, chances are you will be eventually made to reveal both PINs, but still - chances are, you may percevere.

[gcckpxm62308]

This is really a very scary news that gave me a lesson to be a low profile man, not to spread the word about bitcoin holdings, especially about money, or to put money on trustworthy people, such as parents, I can let my parents keep some of my bitcoin.

[Benkortan]

I thought it will happen sooner or later. Very bad news for all.
Earning money in crypto is not so hard at this point, but those bad people only look for the easiest way.

[The_Real_One]

That is why it's so important to keep your privacy and anonymity hidden. We know cryptocurrencies have advantages in term of untraceable currencies, and the ecosystem contains a lot of anonymity. I'm sure keeping your identity private on the internet is essentials.

but apart from telling your wife,

Don't tell the wife. She will want a share when getting divorce.

[jeluhtajem]

This is a lesson for all of us, to better keep our secrecy on the internet in order not to be known to those who want evil.
But this is not the first time it happened, in 2015 in my country there is a bombing terror, and ask for bitcoin as a ransom.
you can see it here
http://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2015/10/29/16441531/Teroris.Peras.Mall.Alam.Sutera.dengan.Minta.100.Bitcoin

[tokexchain]

This was always going to happen, Bitcoin and digital currencies are big mainstream news now, it's a shame to be in such a great era of crossover from the controlling banks to a decentralized trusted network, and here we are with criminals taking a family at gunpoint! Just be aware of your surroundings and people, don't flaunt your wealth and seems the less said about BTC the better, at least around new people - pretty backward really... Seems this guy was a trader and his name and address was on companies house.

[khaled0111]

What a sad story.
I don't know how did the robber know that the man in the house had BTC?
Even robbers became smart these days.
The paradox is that it was a physical agression to steal a digital money

[derago21]

This sounds really scary, with all the technology advancement we still end with stealing using the old school technique. Just weird and those who steal should be given severe punishment.

[Kprawn]

The solution is "Dummy" paper wallets. Create some "dummy" paper wallets and deposit small amounts of coins onto it to fool

these robbers. {Just enough coin to keep them occupied, because they will most probably not have enough time to check all

these wallets. Also create duplicates of paper wallets.... as soon as they leave, sweep those coins to another Bitcoin address.

Never advertise how much coins you have, and do not store your bitcoins in a safe, because that is the first place where they

will look, when they break into your house. 

[Soke]

The solution is "Dummy" paper wallets. Create some "dummy" paper wallets and deposit small amounts of coins onto it to fool

these robbers. {Just enough coin to keep them occupied, because they will most probably not have enough time to check all

these wallets. Also create duplicates of paper wallets.... as soon as they leave, sweep those coins to another Bitcoin address.

Never advertise how much coins you have, and do not store your bitcoins in a safe, because that is the first place where they

will look, when they break into your house. 

I am 100% sure if someone tries to rob you of your bitcoins.  They will sit there and wait until you transfer the bitcoins into their address and it get's confirmed.  They won't be stupid to fall for this and if you're driving a Lambo and live in a mansion and say you only have 10 bitcoins, they won't believe you also. 

[alyssa85]

Update on this case:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5327843/Bitcoin-robbers-left-failed-raid.html

Bitcoin robbers who stormed into a traders house and tied up his girlfriend were left with nothing when his transfer of the crypto-currency failed to reach their account.

Am not sure how nothing reached their account - did the miners not pick up the transaction, did he fake that he had sent it?

[adsadsx]

i wondering why the robbers know this family have huge amount of bitcoin and apparently the robbers was following bitcoin trend and more likely to choose stole digital asset rather than physical asset but indeed this is first time to heards cryptocurrencies robbery but i wish this is could be the first and the last time we heard because will be very dangerous for us as bitcoin users

In physical currency, armed robbers will be able to get their hands more limited money, or the wallet may not have much money, or bank teller machine withdrawal limit every day. But bitcoin is different, and a thief can steal millions of bitcoin in minutes.

[Jannalsieh]

So yes, criminals do use bitcoins in their operations!
This is absolutely the first of its kind in the history of robbery.
So folks, better be careful with identity, most in particular if you have a lot of assets in digital currency.

Stay safe all

[Filmmmakerr]

This is crazy, there was a time people only stole physical goods. Now Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is going to change that lol.

[levvv]

This is so sad.
As bitcoin gains more popularity,
bitcoin gain more interest among all kind of peoples.
The bad ones is the worst case here.
I hope the victim not got trauma too long.

[Stegobit]

Always be silent about your Bitcoin holdings!

[ChickenDuck]

If that robber transfer this BTC into fiat, he surely will be captured.

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

[bubbagump]

The way I see it, this isn't something that most of us need to worry about as long as we aren't going around bragging about how much crypto we have.  I'm not saying that that's what this guy was doing; I think he was targetted because he was a broker or something which made it public knowledge that he had crypto-assets.  To the criminals, he was likely seen no differently than anyone else who had a stash of valuables in his house.  The only thing that made this story remarkable was the fact that it involved crypto instead of cash, gold, jewelry, corporate secrets or any other easily carried stores of wealth.

[ClownSpider]

The solution is "Dummy" paper wallets. Create some "dummy" paper wallets and deposit small amounts of coins onto it to fool

these robbers. {Just enough coin to keep them occupied, because they will most probably not have enough time to check all

these wallets. Also create duplicates of paper wallets.... as soon as they leave, sweep those coins to another Bitcoin address.

Never advertise how much coins you have, and do not store your bitcoins in a safe, because that is the first place where they

will look, when they break into your house. 

I am 100% sure if someone tries to rob you of your bitcoins.  They will sit there and wait until you transfer the bitcoins into their address and it get's confirmed.  They won't be stupid to fall for this and if you're driving a Lambo and live in a mansion and say you only have 10 bitcoins, they won't believe you also. 

You could say you spent it all, cashed out, or do like Mr UK did and send it with minimum fees so that it never confirms, and of course, turn OFF your internet connection before sending, or right after sending so it never broadcasts out.

You can also afford South African style home defense with the shotgun shells behind wall and ceiling panels that thunder out a WALL of lead at the push of a button.  Located bank alarm style.

[bubbagump]

The solution is "Dummy" paper wallets. Create some "dummy" paper wallets and deposit small amounts of coins onto it to fool

these robbers. {Just enough coin to keep them occupied, because they will most probably not have enough time to check all

these wallets. Also create duplicates of paper wallets.... as soon as they leave, sweep those coins to another Bitcoin address.

Never advertise how much coins you have, and do not store your bitcoins in a safe, because that is the first place where they

will look, when they break into your house. 

I am 100% sure if someone tries to rob you of your bitcoins.  They will sit there and wait until you transfer the bitcoins into their address and it get's confirmed.  They won't be stupid to fall for this and if you're driving a Lambo and live in a mansion and say you only have 10 bitcoins, they won't believe you also. 

You could say you spent it all, cashed out, or do like Mr UK did and send it with minimum fees so that it never confirms, and of course, turn OFF your internet connection before sending, or right after sending so it never broadcasts out.

You can also afford South African style home defense with the shotgun shells behind wall and ceiling panels that thunder out a WALL of lead at the push of a button.  Located bank alarm style.

Trying to fool the robbers sounds like a great way to have your family tortured and murdered in front of you as you beg for them to stop, while shitting yourself, waiting for them to get to you.  And that second part sounds like a great way to kill your family along with the robbers.  Don't be stupid if you're in this kind of situation.  Of course you should try to think of a way out, but don't do anything to anger the armed maniacs that clearly aren't nice people.  And if you can't think of anything, then by all means, do whatever you have to do to appease them and hurry them along their way.  You can replace money and possessions.  The same cannot be said for the lives of your loved ones or yourself.

[pawel7777]

...To the criminals, he was likely seen no differently than anyone else who had a stash of valuables in his house.  The only thing that made this story remarkable was the fact that it involved crypto instead of cash, gold, jewelry, corporate secrets or any other easily carried stores of wealth.

In many ways bitcoins are more attractive to the robbers than physical valuables. It's easier to convert to fiat than art/jewellery/electronic equipment/cars etc, easier to launder, and most of all - you're not in possession of stolen goods (unless you're stupid and force victim to send btc to the wallet installed on your phone etc).

Probably cash would be still the preferred target, as you don't need to convert it, but having huge stash of cash is always suspicious and can be a crucial proof against you.

If that robber transfer this BTC into fiat, he surely will be captured.
...

I don't expect them to register on Coinbase and just transfer btc from the address the victim was forced to send to. If they now what they're doing, they'll put coins through the mixer and cash out slowly in a non suspicious manner.
We've seen many spectacular bitcoin hacks over the years, in most cases hackers don't get caught.

[Mr.Smithers]

I don't expect them to register on Coinbase and just transfer btc from the address the victim was forced to send to. If they now what they're doing, they'll put coins through the mixer and cash out slowly in a non suspicious manner.
We've seen many spectacular bitcoin hacks over the years, in most cases hackers don't get caught.

I have read somewhere (but torture me, I will not locate the source in a thousand years ) that almost all bitcoin addresses now contain some fractions of bitcoins that were the result of some bitcoin hacks and thefts.

So it would seem that it is not possible to actually track bitcoins resulting from a theft or robbery, they will after some time get nicely and evenly distributed in many innocent people wallets.

[bitcoinfrings]

The best way to stay secure is for one to remain anonymous stay under the radar don't go about bragging that you have bitcoin.. if you have a public crypto trading exchange and you are known please get security persons around yourself ,stay secure..

[bubbagump]

...To the criminals, he was likely seen no differently than anyone else who had a stash of valuables in his house.  The only thing that made this story remarkable was the fact that it involved crypto instead of cash, gold, jewelry, corporate secrets or any other easily carried stores of wealth.

In many ways bitcoins are more attractive to the robbers than physical valuables. It's easier to convert to fiat than art/jewellery/electronic equipment/cars etc, easier to launder, and most of all - you're not in possession of stolen goods (unless you're stupid and force victim to send btc to the wallet installed on your phone etc).

Probably cash would be still the preferred target, as you don't need to convert it, but having huge stash of cash is always suspicious and can be a crucial proof against you.

I don't know.  If I were a robber, I'm not sure that I would take such a huge risk for what effectively only exists within the mind of my intended target.  Let's say that I tried to rob you and for whatever reason, you decided that you're not going to give me the keys to your account or maybe you don't even have access to the keys.  My only options at that point are to either kill you and walk away or just simply walk away.  Either way, I'd be left with absolutely nothing to show for it other than a potential trip to a jail cell, making a more conventional cash grab more appealing.

[heureca]

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

I think that the best conclusion for this case - do not tell other people about savings in bitcoins or other criptourrency. If nobody knows about your criptocurrency nobody can steal it

[loragean03]

these news really scares me. ,this maybe the first robbery in UK but not first in whole world. thieves/criminals are everywhere, crimes are happens every time, so you better to stay anonymous and don't tell anybody that you are in a world of crypto, because it will leads you to be robbed someday, or else if its too late to hide your identity because you are a famous person in social media. listen to the folks on the other thread that, you have to carry a licensed ripple, or a stun gun, pepper spray or a knives. to protect your self incase thieves comes  to hunt you. you better to transfer a small amount of bitcoin in you handy gadgets to believes them that you don't have any huge amount of bitcoin if you catch-up by those criminals.

[layoutph]

Hmm, ok crypto traders, be ready at all times, do not save all your crypto belongings in one  BTC address, spread them to different wallets, trezor wallets and paper wallets. Spread the wallets to lessen the risk. And dont forget to hide and secure the crypto private keys.

Sad story from UK, it's all over the news today:

Britain's first Bitcoin heist as trader forced at gunpoint to transfer cyber currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/

Armed robbers broke into the family home of a city financier turned Bitcoin trader and forced him to transfer the digital currency at gunpoint, in what is believed to be the first heist of its kind in the UK.

Four robbers in balaclavas forced their way into the home of Danny Aston, 30, who runs a digital currency trading firm, before reportedly tying up a woman and forcing Mr Aston to transfer an unknown quantity of the cryptocurrency.
...

Other links:
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/29/uks-first-bitcoin-robbery-prolific-trader-forced-transfer-fortune-7268576/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5444048/bitcoin-robbery-gunpoint-danny-aston-oxfordshire-amy-jay-baby/


I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm just a humble crypto-enthusiast and only hold modest amounts. Plz no raid.

Edit: alternative thread (no signatures allowed): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838558.msg29168004#msg29168004 (thanks vintages)

[Hmei777]

I was surprised to hear his affection that it could happen, I hope the thieves are accountable for his actions, hopefully the robbers can be caught by the police. Hopefully events like this will not happen again, I am worried because the robber has not been caught.

[krishnaverma]

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

I heard about this case recently on another forum and it really made me sad. But one thing to consider here is that how can anyone one know of your Bitcoin investments. Provided you do not show off your earnings or talk about it to relatives and friends, there are very less chances of this getting in notice of criminals. I think it is better to remain secretive about Bitcoin investments to remain on the safe side. Finally, I hope those criminals are exposed and dealt with.

[codewench]

Am not sure how nothing reached their account - did the miners not pick up the transaction, did he fake that he had sent it?

I think this would work:

Prerequisite: A full Bitcoin node also running a SPV wallet server. Configure your wallet to use this server.

Step 1: Inject a double spend into your server's mempool. It needs to be payable to an address in your HD wallet. The fees "offered" need to be moderately high. The amount transferred should be a significant portion of your BTC. The source (TXO) doesn't really matter, but perhaps should be from an address you used in the past but that isn't in your wallet.

Result: Your wallet will pick up the double spend as received coin. Thieves will be lured into including this in the theft. Consequently, their outgoing send will never confirm!

Optional step 2: Compile your own modification of wallet software. Detect the magic double spend and display it in the UI as confirmed. Also ignore the "don't spend unconfirmeds" option for this transaction.

Alternate step 1: Create a massive (wide and deep) chain of zero fee transactions that transfers real BTC into your wallet. Make it so big that an enormous ChildPaysForParent fee would have to be paid to confirm the chain. The benefit is that you can be reasonably sure that nodes will broadcast the theft transaction. Thus, if the thieves are independently watching their own wallet, they'll see the unconfirmed transaction arrive.

[eternalgloom]

I think this comic fits perfectly in this topic, surprised that no-one had posted it already :p


Source: https://xkcd.com/538/

But yeah, it's never a good idea to go around telling everybody how many Bitcoins you have or even just telling them you have Bitcoins in general.
In this particular case, the guy probably had to make his identity known since he was running an exchange service, but you'd at least expect him to invest more into his personal security.

[Reid]

I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

Before I was thinking about this.
I love the anonymity because I can hold a lot of bitcoin and my neighbors wont even know I have a lot of money stacked in crypto currency.
They cannot get it from my house or try to guess the pin of my ATM card.

But now, because of the information that exchanges and wallets wants from us before withdrawal it is getting a little scary.
I hope we can all come back to the time where it is not needed. Where is the anonymity now?

(grabbed from the alternate link. Credits to vintages.)

I guess its better not to have a trading app on your phone and live a low key Life till when you decided not to trade again. Though, most people may not like it since they want to live a five star life when the gains start pouring in.

This could be the answer. Not trading, but what if you just knew that before you can withdraw, that they need the information and you have already deposited the crypto.
There should be an info about this at the start of their webpage so that people will know.
But I guess they are all requiring it now.
The answer will be to require it before even going in that trading website.
Somehow they should know initially that they will lose their anonymity even before they deposit.

[zoloq33]

One way to solve this is use 2 Bitcoin accounts, one with most of the funds, with the private key secured in a bank safe or somewhere safe, and the other with a small amount of funds for daily use. Of course if someone is daily trading with a large amount of money then he would still have that problem but this is true for any person who deals with large amount of money on a regular basis. In this case he simply should do his tradings from an office or somewhere secure and not from home.

[codpku]

I think man who got robbery was really show off what he get fromo bitcoin, as a person we should lay low don't show everybody that we become rich from bitcoin just do like ordinary life
But i think the robbery have a connection with his son who know his dad have lot bitcoin just my opinion hehe

[cabron]

I was thinking about this the other day and I realised there is a potential market out there for security provision related to Crypto's and BTC.

Example: Imagine if Trezor or a private security company working with Trezor set up a system where by you have a false login to your Trezor hard wallet which when entered triggers an alarm within said company* (much like how some private burglar alarm companies operate) so then someone knows to comes out and check on you and/or hopefully prevents theft of all if not just a part of your holdings.

Obviously there would be a fee for this but it would be no different to a subscription to a standard alarm system which plenty of people do anyway.

*Or the company then contact the police as they will in all likelyhood be closer and have a better response time.

You can definitely create a software for that and do an ICO here for such project. You will probably collect thousands of ETHfor it.

High jacking and gun pointing may happen again when criminals know there are money to take from someone. If you live alone or maybe you are part of the devteam you may be a target of these criminals.

[Jeremycoin]

I hope targeting bitcoiners won't become a new trend for criminals.

Believe me, it would.
It has been started.

And seriously, what's the best practice to prevent such cases, when you hold/have access to significant amount of bitcoins? Sure you could hide your private key (or part of it) in some secure place outside of your home, but then the risk of you (or your family) getting tortured or even killed increases. Well organised group as described above unlikely would be happy to leave with nothing.

The thing that we can do is to protect our anonymity at all costs. They won't know who you are if you didn't share your identity with the public (internet) for free or easily.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

Duh, 2FA supposed to be safe as long as the access to your device is in your own hand.

And what about exchanges? 2FA is a prevention from hacking, but won't work at all if you're held at gunpoint. I'd be very happy to see some extra (opt-in) security features on exchanges, i.e. few days delay in withdrawing BTC above certain amount.

This would make things more complicated to do.


Frankly, I think this kind of event is making me more certain that Bitcoin is a real currency.

[petrov trevor]

Unfortunately, anything of value attracts the thief, be very careful and be discreet about what you own

[Best Dreams]

i wondering why the robbers know this family have huge amount of bitcoin and apparently the robbers was following bitcoin trend and more likely to choose stole digital asset rather than physical asset but indeed this is first time to heards cryptocurrencies robbery but i wish this is could be the first and the last time we heard because will be very dangerous for us as bitcoin users

In physical currency, armed robbers will be able to get their hands more limited money, or the wallet may not have much money, or bank teller machine withdrawal limit every day. But bitcoin is different, and a thief can steal millions of bitcoin in minutes.

Well it is not that easy because now bitcoin has a lot of wallets, now bitcoin has wallet if we will put pour bitcoin in wallet no one will be able to steal or use your bitcoin, blockchain is for safety it is as safe as we want, it is easy to rob a bank and take all of the paper currency but mate if you will put your money in bitcoin and then use bitcoin wallet no one will be able to steal your bitcoin until they know your bitcoin wallet password.

[farwellbit]

The solution is "Dummy" paper wallets. Create some "dummy" paper wallets and deposit small amounts of coins onto it to fool

these robbers. {Just enough coin to keep them occupied, because they will most probably not have enough time to check all

these wallets. Also create duplicates of paper wallets.... as soon as they leave, sweep those coins to another Bitcoin address.

Never advertise how much coins you have, and do not store your bitcoins in a safe, because that is the first place where they

will look, when they break into your house. 

I am 100% sure if someone tries to rob you of your bitcoins.  They will sit there and wait until you transfer the bitcoins into their address and it get's confirmed.  They won't be stupid to fall for this and if you're driving a Lambo and live in a mansion and say you only have 10 bitcoins, they won't believe you also. 

It is not easy to rob someone who is having any kind of digital currency whether it is bitcoin or not. If you want to do so, you are supposed to kidnap owners and even if someone is residing a big bungalow, this does not indicate his possession of bitcoin. Many rich people are still not investing into bitcoin. In short, it is not that easy as it appears to rob bitcoin. This is one of the reason why people are investing into bitcoin.

[Shwester]

yes it started as large number of people knows about how precious is bitcoin.stay safe

[pawel7777]

Didn't want to start a new thread, I'll just post a similar story from Moscow here:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/moscow-man-mutilated-and-mugged-for-1-million-in-bitcoin-local-sources-report

According to Forklog, the victim, who has not been named, was in the southern district of the Russian capital when a group of muggers stopped him and demanded he transfer his holdings.

When he refused, they “mutilated his face with a knife” before he surrendered his collection of around 100 BTC, approximately $1,020,000 at press time, according to the publication.

[gentlemand]

Didn't want to start a new thread, I'll just post a similar story from Moscow here:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/moscow-man-mutilated-and-mugged-for-1-million-in-bitcoin-local-sources-report

According to Forklog, the victim, who has not been named, was in the southern district of the Russian capital when a group of muggers stopped him and demanded he transfer his holdings.

When he refused, they “mutilated his face with a knife” before he surrendered his collection of around 100 BTC, approximately $1,020,000 at press time, according to the publication.

So he had the coins on him and the muggers must've known he had them on him as well. It sounds like there was some information leakage somewhere along the line along with extreme silliness for carrying that much around in the street.

As an aside to the original subject of this thread I haven't seen it mentioned that the robbers got nothing. I can't find the details but I presume the trader who was done over must've double spent or done some type of spoof transaction.

[jack107]

what a scary thought...I wouldn't know what to do. Security is done when you're compromised like that

[Theoneo8]

That is brutal. How to defense yourself from that!? I guess the best thing is to keep a low profile to avoid attracting attention to yourself. In small cities or places that is hard thing to do. Moving is an option too. This will be a huge problem in future.

[ferall]

Low profile and tell nobody.

[alekseidanilov0803]

These bitcoins are not dangerous. Yes, there may be risks that are small, but for several years it has been successfully earned!