First UK's bitcoin robbery. Stay safe.

[Filmmmakerr]

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

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[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.