Blockchain researcher ZachXBT said he has noticed a surge in messages from people claiming to be victims of cryptocurrency heists.
In an October 10 post, Onchain Detectives said they had received messages from several victims of cryptocurrency home invasion thefts “over the past few months in Western Europe at a much higher rate than other regions.”
He made the same claim in a message shared via his Telegram channel on September 27, saying he was aware of several individuals in the cryptocurrency community who had their cryptocurrencies stolen at gunpoint in recent months.
At the same time, ZachXBT claims to have found evidence showing that user
source: ZachXBT
He said the thieves examined the victim and then entered the building with a machete under the pretense of delivering a package to the victim’s home.
They then forced victims to open their ledgers and transfer cryptocurrency to two wallet addresses. ZachXBT says both addresses are still dormant.
“This is a cautionary tale and hopefully it will help lead to an arrest. Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself,” said ZachXBT.
“Do not share any personal information or details about your cryptocurrency holdings with your friends or expose them on social media.”
According to GitHub, there were at least 15 offline cryptocurrency theft incidents recorded in various countries last year, about 17 in 2023 and 32 in 2021.
The online platform lists an incident of direct password theft that occurred in 2014, when an unknown sender attempted to rob computer scientist and cryptographer Hal Finney of 1,000 bitcoins (BTC), worth $400,000 at the time.
relevant: Home invaders used a machete called Toblerone to rob a man of his Bitcoin.
In a more recent case, Nick Drakon, former CEO of cryptocurrency research and education platform Revelo Intel, posted on , claimed to have been robbed. -One month old son.
He stepped down as CEO of Revelo Intel after revelations that he had been held at gunpoint and forcibly transferred personal, corporate and investor funds.
On June 25, a Florida man was found guilty of orchestrating multiple violent home invasions to steal cryptocurrency.
Between December 2022 and July 2023, the gang reportedly used violence, kidnapping and threats to terrorize people, forcing them to transfer their cryptocurrency assets to wallet addresses controlled by the thieves.
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