Binance Client Executives Kidnapped, Forced to Empty Crypto Wallets

[AmoreJaz]

I was surprised why the perverts did not force the victim to transfer his balances into Bitcoin or any other currency on a network that cannot be controlled. This would have prevented them from freezing 98 percent of the amount they received.

This is one aspect of the problem of privacy in Binance. This is an obvious example of how using binance can affect privacy.
There is a strongly likely hypothesis regarding users on Binance Peer-to-Peer. When carrying out any buying or selling transaction, you can see the profile of the counterparty user (his full name) and data about his activity. This can help scammers choose their victims more easily.

it means, these perpetrators did not do much of their homework how to cover their tracks. they are already in crypto so why not use the features of it so they won't be traced? but good thing as they have frozen most of the funds.
this is why it is quite a challenge to trust people these days especially if you met them over the net.
also, as much as possible, don't disclose matters to your social media about what you are into. most of the time, these people are lurking around the net and looking for their potential victims as they learn more about your daily life.

[Hyphen(-)]

the thief/kidnapper obviously done research, found wealthy people, formed a relationship, and invited them somewhere.. the victims know details of the perpetrator. im sure the thief is being chased if not already arrested

It will definitely be insider work, or the client is someone who showcases his or her assets online or to people that are close to him or to the society he lives in, which may result in some people planning against him. If not, why did the kidnappers focus on his crypto wallet instead of something else?

Hard to believe, how can someone who carry a big amount of money isn't protected by any security.

After reading this paragraph, it's really clear CZ is promoting his exchange as he indirectly say to hold your Bitcoin in CEX and not hold XMR because it's a privacy coin lol.

When asked on X about whether crypto is better than fiat currencies kept in banks if your crypto wallet can be frozen, CZ replied: “It’s a balance, and there is no perfect balance point. If you use XMR, then there isn’t much anyone can do (or to help you with), as far as I know. Bitcoin can be traced, but not frozen, until you send it to a CEX [centralized exchange].” CZ emphasized: “The key point is, you have the choice.”

I thought as much, especially seeing that people are trying to get involved in crypto investment against next year's halving, and most people do not like the stress of creating their wallet and keeping their private key; they prefer to leave it in an exchange where they will only log in and access their coins. CZ is doing this post to give people confidence while using Binance exchange so that they can get many users above other exchanges.

[Odohu]

Also, technically anyone who uses the Binance exchange is a client, so I imagine a lot of people who happen to use Binance had been extorted & robbed over the platform's lifetime too.

But kidnappings? That only happens quite rarely.

It is becoming common because people are not leaving a private life. I mean a privacy life for their crypto holdings.

Actually, a lot of Bitcoiner with fat portfolios are noisy especially on social media and that is not safe. However, I'm wondering how someone as big as Client Executive of Binance can be private without being known. I serious doubt the possibility.

We really need cyber security and privacy board.

This is a very important suggestion that will take much of the burden in the Beginners & Help Board since security issues usually take bulk of the discussion. Perhaps you can create a topic about this in Meta so it gain more attention. The ropsed cyber security and privacy board can come as a sub board under Beginners & Help.

[Lambaz]

CZ has issued a statement regarding this

[coupable]

I was surprised why the perverts did not force the victim to transfer his balances into Bitcoin or any other currency on a network that cannot be controlled. This would have prevented them from freezing 98 percent of the amount they received.

This is one aspect of the problem of privacy in Binance. This is an obvious example of how using binance can affect privacy.
There is a strongly likely hypothesis regarding users on Binance Peer-to-Peer. When carrying out any buying or selling transaction, you can see the profile of the counterparty user (his full name) and data about his activity. This can help scammers choose their victims more easily.

it means, these perpetrators did not do much of their homework how to cover their tracks. they are already in crypto so why not use the features of it so they won't be traced? but good thing as they have frozen most of the funds.
this is why it is quite a challenge to trust people these days especially if you met them over the net.

This was fortunate for the victim, waiting to recover his savings.
Unfortunately, this remains insufficient and not reassuring enough to trust Binance or others. The loophole that the criminals used to make their crime successful was that the victim was putting all his savings on Binance, and therefore it was easy for the criminals to force him to open his account (this requires nothing more than using the phone application) and send all his savings. Even though they lost 98% of the stolen items as a result of freezing on the Tron network, they succeeded in gaining 2%, which represents a good amount as well.
I really hope that this raises awareness of the danger of using exchanges to store large amounts, no matter how reliable the platform is.

[sheenshane]

Honestly, this is the first story that I've heard of someone kidnapped and forced to empty his exchange wallet.
Sounds weird right?  Yeah, in the first place how the kidnapper know about your asset if you don't revealing it to anyone else.
I think there's a lesson to learn on this, we should always take care of our privacy and not reveal what we have even our friends or co-workers.

IMO, privacy and security are closely intertwined.
We should protect them at all costs to avoid being victims of fraud.

We hope that CZ will help the victim to find out easily and arrest the kidnapper.

[SamReomo]

That can happen to anyone who uses centralized exchanges and surely there is a lot of risk for the ones who use centralized exchanges to store their crypto-currencies. I believe that someone from the internal team might have leaked the data of those executive clients to the robbers, scammers, hackers, and then they have made their proper plans of kidnapping those clients and steal their crypto-currency.

I believe CZ has taken a good step to secure most of the funds of the clients and surely by sharing this he got some free marketing and fame for Binance. It's a good story for us to be careful that letting a lot of your money into a centralized exchange can be risky for your well-being and even letting others know about your crypto portfolio can be a risky thing.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Thiefs or rubber, whatever, they don't act when they don't have a lead. Those guys usually know how to play their cards, make all necessary investigations on the pray they have sighted, and make sure they have gotten all the information and tools they need to be successful at their mission before they strike, and thats exactly what happened. Based on the threads that some users have created on the forum, it's something that is happening in some parts of the world: crypto investors being kidnapped and forced to give up their crypto assets or pay ransom in Bitcoin. However that incident was made successful, I think there might have been some insider who gave the thief the information of the man and how they could kidnap him and how much they could extut from him because I believe he might have offered them less than what he lost, but they would reject it, knowing that he has more than that.

[oktana]

This can’t happen unless they’ve been following them up for a while. This is why it is discouraged to flaunt what you have in this cryptocurrency space. I’m not saying this was their case but this is something that will most likely happen to people who like to talk about how much they have because there’s no way someone can randomly rob you and ask you to send all your crypto money if they didn’t know it somehow.

[hatshepsut93]

Yet another proof that altcoins are building a centralized system similar to banking, and it has none of the properties of so-called "blockchain technology". No decentralization, no full control of funds, no immutability and censorship resistance. If they can freeze stolen coins, they can also freeze coins when government tells them to.

Bitcoins can't be frozen and returned back, so you have to mitigate the risks as best as you can, but you also can be sure that only you control your money.

[Assface16678]

This can’t happen unless they’ve been following them up for a while. This is why it is discouraged to flaunt what you have in this cryptocurrency space. I’m not saying this was their case but this is something that will most likely happen to people who like to talk about how much they have because there’s no way someone can randomly rob you and ask you to send all your crypto money if they didn’t know it somehow.

It's because they are known to the public, and known rich people tend to face such scenarios. Of course, the culprint does research into crypto currency, and luckily they take action. Even without capturing the suspect, they are able to freeze the stolen assets, which is good, but what if it happens to none of the executive people? Will they receive this kind of treatment, or will they be able to have justice like what happened in the OP's topic? I guess not. That's why many people in crypto choose to stay quiet because they know they can't do anything when their assets are stolen, by force or not. That's why, in this industry, we need to stay anonymous and avoid flexing our assets, which might cost money. Staying vigilant and anonymous is the safest way toA protect your assets. You will get nothing from spreading about your crypto things, so just stay quiet and keep on earning.

[qwertyup23]

First of all, your topic is in the wrong place, it should be in Bitcoin Discussion.

Also, technically anyone who uses the Binance exchange is a client, so I imagine a lot of people who happen to use Binance had been extorted & robbed over the platform's lifetime too.

But kidnappings? That only happens quite rarely.

I agree with your statement.

Kidnapping a client involves knowing that such a customer is a client of Binance in the first place. Probably the kidnappers have done their research on whom to target as their next victim. Also, the fact that they also know the basics of transactions imply that they probably know their knowledge in the crypto space.

These are just some of the things that can potentially happen in any kind of currency in which money is involved. I just hope that people would be able to secure their funds and lives at the same time to prevent things from happening.

[coupable]

I was surprised why the perverts did not force the victim to transfer his balances into Bitcoin or any other currency on a network that cannot be controlled. This would have prevented them from freezing 98 percent of the amount they received.

This is one aspect of the problem of privacy in Binance. This is an obvious example of how using binance can affect privacy.
There is a strongly likely hypothesis regarding users on Binance Peer-to-Peer. When carrying out any buying or selling transaction, you can see the profile of the counterparty user (his full name) and data about his activity. This can help scammers choose their victims more easily.

it means, these perpetrators did not do much of their homework how to cover their tracks. they are already in crypto so why not use the features of it so they won't be traced? but good thing as they have frozen most of the funds.
this is why it is quite a challenge to trust people these days especially if you met them over the net.
also, as much as possible, don't disclose matters to your social media about what you are into. most of the time, these people are lurking around the net and looking for their potential victims as they learn more about your daily life.

As I previously explained, in the example of Binance, it is not possible to hide identity at all because in peer-to-peer transactions, the identifying data of the seller/buyer is visible, which is his full name, his bank account number, or his phone number if he uses it as a local payment method, or email. Once you have the full name, it will be easy to identify the person, and this does not cost more than a simple search on Facebook.
The only solution to continue using these services, with all the accompanying violation of privacy, is not to keep the assets in the Binance account and to use private wallets for storage. This is more guaranteed than any other method.

[NeilLostBitCoin]

The thief/kidnapper obviously done research, found wealthy people, formed a relationship, invited them somewhere.. the victims know details of the perpetrator. im sure the thief is being chased if not already arrested

Despite the thiefs efforts in selecting their target for kidnapping, they seem to have lacked the necessary knowledge to transfer the illegal funds effectively in the crypto space. But it is encouraging to know that some of the funds have already been frozen, which is a result of the authorities' swift action. Is the victim already safe?

[Bitstar_coin]

Inside job - yes but from binance not too sure about that. This executive is not an alien, he/she must have family, friends, acquaintance who must know him and also aware of what he does for a living. It could be anyone who knows him personally.
It is also very important in this present time were so many insecurities happening to be extremely careful. people who work in this type of place should know the type of company they keep and if necessary seek protection.
This kidnappers already very familiar with the victim and knows all personal information to assist them carry out this heinous crime. Good thing binance was able to act quickly to freeze part of the stolen funds.

[Abu-Naim]

Despite the thiefs efforts in selecting their target for kidnapping, they seem to have lacked the necessary knowledge to transfer the illegal funds effectively in the crypto space. But it is encouraging to know that some of the funds have already been frozen, which is a result of the authorities' swift action. Is the victim already safe?

Some of the victim's funds were already frozen in the wallets they sent them to, according to CZ's statement in the article, but the security of the victim is the question now. Since Binance was able to broadcast the news, it means that the client is safe, and Binance broadcasted the incident to them before they took action to freeze all the wallets the USDT was sent to. The challenge now is the safety of our funds in CEX. We no longer have control of our funds; in fact, our funds can also be frozen if care is not taken.
Let's just avoid CEX.

[Jating]

This can’t happen unless they’ve been following them up for a while. This is why it is discouraged to flaunt what you have in this cryptocurrency space. I’m not saying this was their case but this is something that will most likely happen to people who like to talk about how much they have because there’s no way someone can randomly rob you and ask you to send all your crypto money if they didn’t know it somehow.

That's what criminals do, if they see a target, they are going to follow their victims, no matter what. And it will just take time before they strike. But yeah, this is kinda scary, usually what he heard is that criminals targeting individuals and then asking them to empty wallets that they have total control, and we think that it is safe to have that kind of wallet.

The best they can do right now is to ask tether to freeze the funds (usdt), that is if the criminals hasn't move it to another wallet.

So let's see how the news developed, it's a huge money to begin with and hopefully they can catch the criminals.

[Rikafip]

Me personal think this is impossible to happen without inside work from Binance. What do you think? 😎

It doesn't have to be that someone from Binance helped the perpertraors at all.

Considering the amount of money stolen, their client was obviously rich and rich people (especially nouveau riche who made money overnight via crypto) tend to flaunt their wealth around, letting people know how they made their money so it wasn't that hard for someone with band intentions to figure things out.

[boyptc]

The best they can do right now is to ask tether to freeze the funds (usdt), that is if the criminals hasn't move it to another wallet.

Yeah, that's the feature that we've known and done in the past and I think that they'll do that and contact all other exchanges to freeze any funds coming from that specific address.

They're influential and if CZ is going to help on this case, he can. But if the kidnappers will be wise not to touch it for now and will wait for a long time to send it to any exchange or jumble it to increase privacy, will they still be able to do that?

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Binance Client Executives Kidnapped, Forced to Empty Crypto Wallets — CZ Says Total Loss Was $12.5 Million

"Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has shared a story of how executives of a Binance client were abducted and forced to empty their crypto wallets. CZ detailed how the cryptocurrency exchange was able to track the transactions and freeze over 94% of the stolen funds."

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/binance-client-executives-kidnapped-forced-to-empty-crypto-wallets-cz-says-total-loss-was-12-5-million/

I just read this, what the hell is going on in this world? It's a dark place we all living in.  
Me personal think this is impossible to happen without inside work from Binance. What do you think? 😎

People who do not own even just a million dollars get kidnapped everyday and their families been asked for ransom, so for people of such caliber as a Binance executive client, he/she ought to have known his/her worth and never work without a proper security, because this client was even lucky enough that the kidnappers were so stupid enough to have sent the fund to another Binance account and not a hardware or non-custodian software wallet they own the private keys to their funds, because only if had they done that, I bet you it never could have been possible for Binance recovering the said acclaimed 94%. And this should be a lesson to everyone known to be having huge funds to make privacy his/her top priority.