Bitcoin Theft Going Offline: In-Person Attacks Becoming More Common

[Dany44]

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/bitcoin-theft-going-offline-person-attacks-becoming-more-common

There has been such a focus on building protection for cryptocurrency owners online, that some thieves are simply circumventing it by going old-school and attacking people face on, forcing them to part ways with their digital currencies.

Hostage situations

There has not been as much coverage of in-person Bitcoin thefts as there have about hacks and other methods of taking Bitcoin off people illegally, but there has been a few instance in the recent past.

In a beach resort in Phuket, Thailand, in January, thieves held captive a Russian man in his apartment until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.

Even more high profile people have been faced with in-person attacks aimed at stealing Bitcoin.

Chief Executive of a UK-based Bitcoin exchange called EXMO, Pavel Lerner, on leaving his offices in Kiev, was kidnapped just After Christmas last year and held ransom for a fee of $1 mln Bitcoin.

A month prior to that, in Turkey, a businessman was forced to hand over the passwords for his virtual wallets which contained in excess of $3 mln. He was stopped by an armed gang in his car, in Istanbul.

[Cryptoprimes]

That's terrible news. How should we avoid it?

[mk4]

In a beach resort in Phuket, Thailand, in January, thieves held captive a Russian man in his apartment until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.

To an online wallet eh.. I don't think that was a very smart idea.

Anyway, it just shows how important being secretive it is when investing huge amounts of money in cryptocurrency. Don't tell anyone about your investments unless necessary, especially on social networking sites like Facebook whereas your name and even probably your city is displayed to the public.

[SonOfNorth]

That's terrible news. How should we avoid it?

Never openly talk about anything crypto related with anyone, let alone brag about it. Rich people will always be targets regardless, but you can make it easier for yourself by simply making it seem like you have absolutely nothing to do with cryptos whatsoever. Screw the "lost adoption" by hauling your granny in, think for yourself.

[Cryptoprimes]

In a beach resort in Phuket, Thailand, in January, thieves held captive a Russian man in his apartment until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.

To an online wallet eh.. I don't think that was a very smart idea.

Anyway, it just shows how important being secretive it is when investing huge amounts of money in cryptocurrency. Don't tell anyone about your investments unless necessary, especially on social networking sites like Facebook whereas your name and even probably your city is displayed to the public.

Does it mean that we should make crypto businesses stayin anonymous and never disclose our names? People never trust such businesses, am I right?

[Cryptoprimes]

That's terrible news. How should we avoid it?

Never openly talk about anything crypto related with anyone, let alone brag about it. Rich people will always be targets regardless, but you can make it easier for yourself by simply making it seem like you have absolutely nothing to do with cryptos whatsoever. Screw the "lost adoption" by hauling your granny in, think for yourself.

Oh. Staying rich seems to be difficult...

[mk4]

In a beach resort in Phuket, Thailand, in January, thieves held captive a Russian man in his apartment until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.

To an online wallet eh.. I don't think that was a very smart idea.

Anyway, it just shows how important being secretive it is when investing huge amounts of money in cryptocurrency. Don't tell anyone about your investments unless necessary, especially on social networking sites like Facebook whereas your name and even probably your city is displayed to the public.

Does it mean that we should make crypto businesses stayin anonymous and never disclose our names? People never trust such businesses, am I right?

My point is, don't publicize that you actually own any cryptocurrency investments unless necessary. You don't gain anything from bragging your investments on social media anyway, unless you want to get kidnapped.

[Dany44]

That's terrible news. How should we avoid it?

Never openly talk about anything crypto related with anyone, let alone brag about it. Rich people will always be targets regardless, but you can make it easier for yourself by simply making it seem like you have absolutely nothing to do with cryptos whatsoever. Screw the "lost adoption" by hauling your granny in, think for yourself.

Absolutely right, keep in secret that you are dealing with crypto

[Cryptoprimes]

In a beach resort in Phuket, Thailand, in January, thieves held captive a Russian man in his apartment until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.

To an online wallet eh.. I don't think that was a very smart idea.

Anyway, it just shows how important being secretive it is when investing huge amounts of money in cryptocurrency. Don't tell anyone about your investments unless necessary, especially on social networking sites like Facebook whereas your name and even probably your city is displayed to the public.

Does it mean that we should make crypto businesses stayin anonymous and never disclose our names? People never trust such businesses, am I right?

My point is, don't publicize that you actually own any cryptocurrency investments unless necessary. You don't gain anything from bragging your investments on social media anyway, unless you want to get kidnapped.

Yes that's reasonable a lot.
What about some crypto projects like ICOs where owners tend to be public so everyone should believe they are not scams?
They just taking risk to earn more? Is this a clever idea?

[mk4]

In a beach resort in Phuket, Thailand, in January, thieves held captive a Russian man in his apartment until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.

To an online wallet eh.. I don't think that was a very smart idea.

Anyway, it just shows how important being secretive it is when investing huge amounts of money in cryptocurrency. Don't tell anyone about your investments unless necessary, especially on social networking sites like Facebook whereas your name and even probably your city is displayed to the public.

Does it mean that we should make crypto businesses stayin anonymous and never disclose our names? People never trust such businesses, am I right?

My point is, don't publicize that you actually own any cryptocurrency investments unless necessary. You don't gain anything from bragging your investments on social media anyway, unless you want to get kidnapped.

Yes that's reasonable a lot.
What about some crypto projects like ICOs where owners tend to be public so everyone should believe they are not scams?
They just taking risk to earn more? Is this a clever idea?

Like I said, only disclose some of your personal information only when absolutely necessary. Just like in the case of cryptocurrency project owners/team members. And yes, it's definitely riskier for them; but they have no choice but to introduce themselves to the people for better project transparency.

[nightxglow]

Wow that's surely scary. It's more frightening than getting your wallet hacked, because our life can be on line.
I bet i shouldn't talk to anybody else about bitcoin, so they won't easily get a target, and know who owns bitcoin worth stealing.
Although my bitcoin isn't worth to steal at all, i think i should be careful.
I hope none of this thing happens in the future, it's going to be bad for crypto world and make people fear and leave bitcoin.

[imjustagirl]

Anyone in possession of a large sum of money or any kind of capital should take enough precautions and security measures. Don't go walking around telling your friends or neighbors about your cryptocapital assets. I mean it is a good idea to educate your friends or loved ones, but you should not be bragging about how much you own to anyone. It's just part of your own security. 

[Cryptoprimes]

Wow that's surely scary. It's more frightening than getting your wallet hacked, because our life can be on line.
I bet i shouldn't talk to anybody else about bitcoin, so they won't easily get a target, and know who owns bitcoin worth stealing.
Although my bitcoin isn't worth to steal at all, i think i should be careful.
I hope none of this thing happens in the future, it's going to be bad for crypto world and make people fear and leave bitcoin.

I will die but never leave bitcoin We need like crypto Spiderman or crypto Batman who will protect us from this shit

[ohlawdy]

That's terrible news. How should we avoid it?

Don't tell anyone about what you are holding , just don't talk crypto with anybody .
Even if you trust them , they can tell someone and that is how it goes.
Just pick one person you really trust that in case something happens to your coins aren't lost.
If you hold a big amount maybe make a separate wallet , in case stuff like this happens you just give them a small amount of your stash.
But stuff like this will happen more and more as crypto gets more populair , so be safe.

[Netnox]

This is worrying. And these incidents are coming at a time, when the authorities want us to reveal the details about our crypto-currency holdings. I am getting scared of my own security, as I hold quite a few different cryptos.

[Harlot]

Even physical crimes now are no surprise for Bitcoin owners I think. Criminals like this one know that the world has gone digital now and they know that some things that exist virtually can worth a lot more. The bad thing about this crime is it cannot be avoided as if a person has pointed a deadly weapon to you, you will have no choice but to give them what they want unlike scams in the internet where it can be more likely avoided. This is also one of the reasons why we need to be linked to out Bitcoin addresses in order for us to retrieve our stolen cryptocurrency. Anonymity doesn't have any use anymore.

[imjustagirl]

Yeah, great, remember if someone holds you at gunpoint in some dark alley and tells you "give me your bitcoins or die", the right answer is NOT "I don't have any bitcoins", the right answer would be "What's a bitcoin?"    I'm joking, unfortunately the reality is more sad. There are people who are now hunting even those who own a certain amount of digital assets.

[Cryptoprimes]

Yeah, great, remember if someone holds you at gunpoint in some dark alley and tells you "give me your bitcoins or die", the right answer is NOT "I don't have any bitcoins", the right answer would be "What's a bitcoin?"    I'm joking, unfortunately the reality is more sad. There are people who are now hunting even those who own a certain amount of digital assets.

Haha i never met that guy Bitcoin before..
Maybe the right answer will be: "Please specify your BTC wallet address, then we should go to my house to access my wallet. It's not far from here, near the police station"..

[Dany44]

Yeah, great, remember if someone holds you at gunpoint in some dark alley and tells you "give me your bitcoins or die", the right answer is NOT "I don't have any bitcoins", the right answer would be "What's a bitcoin?"    I'm joking, unfortunately the reality is more sad. There are people who are now hunting even those who own a certain amount of digital assets.

Haha i never met that guy Bitcoin before..
Maybe the right answer will be: "Please specify your BTC wallet address, then we should go to my house to access my wallet. It's not far from here, near the police station"..

and I ll try to recall my password while we are walking...

[krauzzer02]

That's terrible news. How should we avoid it?

Don't boast that you have tons of precious coins online whether it is bitcoin, altcoins or any other forms of money which you have a business with cryptocurrency, that is the risk of showing off online that you are into crypto business even if you are a small time holder or not, they will think that you are rich cause the mindset of people knowing that you owned cryptocurrency is that you are super rich, well the criminals will not have a dilemma for transferring large amount of money because it is decentralized rather than a transfer from a bank which posesses some restriction, better to stay low profile not just on bitcoin but on any other financial businesses that are not necessay to say in public.