Sad News: Kidnappers now requesting bitcoin as ransom in Nigeria {Gov might ban}

[FlamingFingers]

lol. Your screenshot shows that the ransom was asked in 2018. They are not realy smart to ask for BTC, it is easily traceable . If they were smart they would ask for some crypto which is privacy oriented.

privacy coin such as Monero,  dash zcash will have been untraceable,  they might be caught through kyc from exchange perhaps,   these are the kind of guys who give bitcoin a bad name with such action,  there is no way that such occurrence won't happen though,  but trust the media,  they gonna do their job in talking bad about it,

[milewilda]

The recent development [Kidnappers free Abuja victim after ‘$15,000 ransom paid in bitcoin] will definite damage the image of the currency in the country and around the whole especially Africa, if it becomes a trend. What are the possible solution to avoid this trend becoming an easy way out for the kidnappers thereby spoiling the currency image. And what's your take on this issue.

Same as usual and its better not to stress out yourself on how to avoid this thing and minding about BTC reputation because no matter what, it will pop out like mushrooms with these kind of news.We know that BTC is capable when it comes to anonymous payments and its hard to be traced on and thats why those criminal minds will really took advantage with it.
Not to be racist but we've known that Nigerians do have higher numbers in terms of scammers and fraudsters.They are just making their entire country looks bad in terms of crypto reputation and same goes with BTC image drags with it.

[eaLiTy]

Is this the first time a kidnapping has taken place?
Didn't the kidnapping happen before the creation of Bitcoin?
Didn't the kidnappers get money before?

This has happened before but when the kidnappers are asking random in a transparent currency which can be tracked like bitcoin, even then everyone is ready jump against bitcoin and it will be a common theme, i am certain that the people behind these illegal activities will be caught in due time. Criminals will always find a way to do illegal activities and the authorities must be vigil enough to catch these culprits and if that happens these ransom with bitcoin will end.

[avikz]

Is this the first time a kidnapping has taken place?
Didn't the kidnapping happen before the creation of Bitcoin?
Didn't the kidnappers get money before?

Correct! But you are taking the entire news in wrong sense! Besides the Kidnapping, what particularly is sad to us, is the involvement of bitcoin in such kind of serious crime! No one here blamed bitcoin for this incident, rather the involvement of bitcoin is concerning to us! While we all are aware of the positive side of cryptos, at the same time we should be watchful of its negative usage as well!

[DoublerHunter]

Is this the first time a kidnapping has taken place?
Didn't the kidnapping happen before the creation of Bitcoin?
Didn't the kidnappers get money before?

This has happened before but when the kidnappers are asking random in a transparent currency which can be tracked like bitcoin, even then everyone is ready jump against bitcoin and it will be a common theme, i am certain that the people behind these illegal activities will be caught in due time. Criminals will always find a way to do illegal activities and the authorities must be vigil enough to catch these culprits and if that happens these ransom with bitcoin will end.

^ There is 30% of being track if you are using crypto or the thing the worst there's no chance for that. Kidnappers can mix the bitcoin they had via bitcoin mixer company and after that, they can freely withdraw the bitcoin little by little. Bitcoin is prone to criminal activities and let's do hope the authority will have extremely actions regarding those crimes by expanding their intelligent unit.

[crypthough]

It is frustrating to hear that we see Bitcoin's name in dirty works too. It doesn't mean that Bitcoin is dangerous but there will be many people that will believe Bitcoin is mostly used for things like this.

In fact, people always forget that other currencies like the dollar are way more used for illegal activities. The Dollar is in everyday use for drug/weapon dealing and other illegal things. But people used to ignore this fact. A currency itself is there to be spent and the people can decide what they buy with it. If people abuse a currency for bad purposes, it's clear that the human being is the problem and not the currency itself. Beyond that the majority uses things normally and not for illegal purposes. Everybody has a kitchen knife at home, can it be used for bad things? Of course. But is a kitchen knife bad for the fact that you can hurt someone with it?

[1Referee]

It is frustrating to hear that we see Bitcoin's name in dirty works too. It doesn't mean that Bitcoin is dangerous but there will be many people that will believe Bitcoin is mostly used for things like this.

Why is it frustrating? I have given up on caring about these news articles a long time ago. People just need to grow a thicker skin and accept that criminals of all sorts use the best forms of money to their advantage. In most cases that's physical cash, but in some cases Bitcoin or other cryptos too. Not a big deal. Money is money at the end of the day.

Neither fiat or Bitcoin should be blamed for what people do with it. These are mere tools that people have at their disposal. It shows that Bitcoin is useful to all layers of an economy.

[qwertyup23]

Shouldn't this be positive news? Even halfwits from poor African countries who can't find a job and have to kidnap people to bring food to the table are using Bitcoin.

This goes against all those who say Bitcoin is only for tech geeks and an average person won't know how to use it or won't spend time to learn.

You can view this news into two perspectives:

1. Economic Perspective; and
2. General Welfare.

For the first perspective like what you have mentioned, a country that is as poor as Nigeria is utilizing bitcoin in their country. Their economic condition does not hamper their accessibility towards this opportunity of earning cryptocurrencies in their country. At first, I did not think that it may be possible for them to gain access but this gives hope in the future in using cryptocurrencies as the next generation of money.

For the second perspective, we cannot deny the fact that any crime is an unfortunate event. Although kidnapping results to a serious crime which illegally deprives the right of an individual, a life cannot be traded and be regarded as equal to money or property. If people are using bitcoin as their ransom, this may negatively impact the reputation of bitcoin further.

[ahmadakbari]

Shouldn't this be positive news? Even halfwits from poor African countries who can't find a job and have to kidnap people to bring food to the table are using Bitcoin.

I don't blame Bitcoin for being used in kidnapping as kidnappers can use fiat too. But the news is not good.
If one of your family members is kidnapped and you are asked for bitcoin, how would you react? Does this make you happy?
What if bitcoin is used for selling drugs as the seller cannot earn money via any other job and selling drugs is the only think he is able to do?

[electronicash]

fuck that. they now started to learn more of the technology.  we are still in the early stage expect to see more of these kind of news in the area when transactions like this is going to be successful. we've seen this before not even in Africa. i bet those Somalian pirates will also be demanding BTC to their victims. every possible btc to fiat exchange would soon be asking for KYC to track all elements.

[carter34]

If kidnappers or any criminal organizations are requesting for bitcoin for settlement or ransoms they are obviously requesting for money, bitcoin has gotten to that stage of standing next to fiat so i don't see how this is any different

I wonder how and why op is trying to make the African continent and those in Nigeria look like they are the first to experience this incident.
Bitcoin has been rumoured or said to be used for illicit activities so what is the difference? Is unfortunate that the news is coming from a particular region but hackers and scammers have been all over. The anonymity of bitcoin is the reason is thriving in such.
I would have considered this thread as fud to bitcoin but nope, it only means bitcoin awareness is growing.

[Artemis3]

It's quite a sad time to be a bitcoin (cryptocurrency) enthusiast in Nigeria. While we're trying to spread the positive benefits of the currency across the country and Africa continent as a whole irrespective of the government showing negative signs towards the currency, we have recorded some set backs. Each time we take one step forward the bad eggs of the nation take advantage of the hype and leverage on the anonymousity of the currency. First it was the news of Nigerians using the currency to defraud foreigners, since it was easier and they can't be tracked easily. That development lead to a serious attack on account associated with bitcoin transaction irrespective of your source of income. Some accounts  were reportedly frozen while others were blocked for some days (can't confirm this though since I wasn't affected directly).

Recently, the kidnappers are using it to stay anonymous and avoid been traced. The first time such incident was recorded on the continent was when some Kidnappers requested a random of $120,000 to be paid in bitcoin to release a 13yrs old teenager in South Africa. CNN reports now the Nigerians (kidnappers) are buying into the idea of using the currency for their dirty operations. It worries me because what ever Nigerians are engaged in an activity be it good or bad they do it to the extend it becomes a trend which will definitely bring about more regulation and probably a ban on the usages or association with the cryptocurrencies in the country.

The recent development Kidnappers free Abuja victim after ‘$15,000 ransom paid in bitcoin will definite damage the image of the currency in the country and around the whole especially Africa, if it becomes a trend. What are the possible solution to avoid this trend becoming an easy way out for the kidnappers thereby spoiling the currency image. And what's your take on this issue.

Well they are being fools. Bitcoin is easier to trace, and at some point the world is going to have some sort of blacklist address database so every time this happens, money involved will likely be frozen the moment it hits some exchange or mixer.

But i guess they are taking the chance now when none of this currently exists, at least not formally in the clear. Tho i don't know what exactly happens with things such as the stolen money from Binance, how do they inform the other exchanges etc.

In any case yes, crime has used all sorts of valuables in the past, and that is not the fault of the valuable. Fiat (cash) is still the preferred method used for crime, and yet fiat doesn't get abolished.

[ChrisPop]

You can't name that bad news for bitcoin. Until now they've all requested cash as ransom. If bitcoin and cash weren't existent they would ask for gold or whatever the "MAIN" (key point) currency is. Of course that Bitcoin is not or hardly traceable so it is more convenient for bad guys to use it.

[adzino]

Sadly you are making it sound like Nigerians are kidnapping people because bitcoin now exists. Dude, kidnapping took place in Nigeria even before bitcoin was invented. They asked for ransom in fiat money. Now all they are doing is asking ransom payment in cryptocurrency rather than fiat currency. Are you saying the kidnapping will stop as soon as bitcoin has been removed from the country? Lol no. It will still happen. Tell your government to take proper steps against the crime rather than wasting time in doing bullshit stuffs like banning bitcoin.

[ahmadakbari]

Tell your government to take proper steps against the crime rather than wasting time in doing bullshit stuffs like banning bitcoin.

Even if bitcoin is the only payment system can be used by kidnappers, banning that wouldn't be helpful. I don't think kidnappers pay attention to the rules governments make. They will continue to use bitcoin even if that's illegal. As you said truely, Nigerian government should think of the crime itself not the payment system.

[leftgirly]

This is definitely not the first or last time that kidnappers are requesting money from their victims as ransom. Nigeria is one country that is known for high incidence of kidnapping issues but the sad aspect here is the kidnappers taking advantage of the convenience of bitcoin payment to perpetrate their bad deeds.

[harizen]

This is sad news for the family but not totally a sad news in terms of the image about bitcoin.

There are lots of incidents already before where bitcoin was used in illegal activities. Authorities are aware of that. Bitcoin being used should be taken out of the discussion. Instead, authorities there should focus more on improving police or military strategy to hunt down this kidnapper.

Even for let's say bitcoin should be prohibited in that country for those people not to take advantage of it illegally, it will even stop the illegal activities there? Definitely not.

[drumamat]

It is such news that repels new users to use or invest using cryptocurrencies.And the method chosen by the criminals,on their part, will encourage others to use it.And this is a very dangerous trend.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Sadly you are making it sound like Nigerians are kidnapping people because bitcoin now exists.

May I rephrase that statement of yours, "Kidnappers in Nigeria and not Nigerians are kidnapping" because your statement sounds like you're referring to all Nigerians as kidnappers, which weren't as thia activity can be found in every part of the world. Now to clear you, the thread was created to express my worries on the image of the currency in the country. When things like this happen we the enthusiast pay the price like i explained in OP. The cash ransoms are sometimes traceable especially when the police are interesting in apprehending the suspects involved but with bitcoin that's almost impossible.

The thread was created to highlight this issue, thought I'll get some replied close to potential solutions to this problem. Seen some interesting suggestion like blacklist of address and any address associated with that account to prevent this guys from profiting from the anonymousity of bitcoin but doubt how effective that'll be.

[AjithBtc]

This isn't the only incident where bitcoin is used for the bad, it has come across several such incidents. Here it is kidnap, I've come across a website where we can just pay bitcoin in advance and submit the address of the person who needs to be killed or beaten badly. Once things gets completed the pending amount needs to be transacted.

Bitcoin stays strong, which is all because of the majority using it for the good compared to the very few who always have a mind to use things in the negative way.