The victim’s personal assets/holdings exceed the amount of 11 million dollars in cryptocurrencies. Many cases of robberies and kidnappings of this type have occurred due to the popularity that Bitcoin has gained.
A Norwegian multimillionaire, who is the owner of a cryptocurrency company, jumped from a second-floor balcony in the City of Oslo, in Norway, after an armed man had tried to rob him. Before the attempted theft, the victim had allegedly boasted about having made a fortune by investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the last decade.
An indictment taken by the Oslo Attorney General’s Office said that the perpetrator knocked on the door of the victim’s apartment while he was brandishing a firearm.
When the victim opened the door, the thief commanded him to lie on the floor under threat that he would shoot him. Instead of doing what he was told, the victim decided to jump from a balcony. It has not yet been reported if he suffered any serious injury as a consequence of the fall.
It was published that the anonymous businessman runs a cryptocurrency company. It was also indicated that his personal assets are estimated at about 100 million Norwegian kronor (equivalent to USD 11.15 million).
The current price of Bitcoin, which is around USD 10,300, is far from its all-time high at the end of 2017, when 1 bitcoin was worth about USD 20,000. However, this cryptocurrency is still a very popular target among criminals, which is why Bitcoin holders should be particularly careful.
It is worth noting that the digital nature of the cryptocurrency par excellence implies that a long and complex password, known as a private key, is all that is needed to transfer funds from one wallet to another. The thief in this case wanted to make the victim give him his private so that he would have access to his Bitcoin holdings.
The Oslo incident is the latest in a series of cases that involve criminals who attack people in an attempt to gain access to their private keys and; thus, their accounts. Besides, they know that the semi-anonymous nature of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies makes it difficult for the police to track the transactions.
In 2015, a firefighter from New York City was stabbed by thieves who demanded that he hand over his private keys. Two years later, Ukrainian kidnappers earned more than a million dollars after successfully using ransomware against a cryptocurrency analyst.
At the beginning of this year, three robbers disguised as police officers entered a house in Drenthe, in the Netherlands, and tortured a man with a drill in an attempt to gain access to his cryptocurrencies. The one-hour torment undergone by the victim took place in front of his four-year-old daughter, but in the end it was unsuccessful.
It is true that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly gaining popularity among investors all over the world. However, it is best to avoid talking about personal holdings, especially in front of unknown or untrustworthy people, to avoid being victims of a robbery or a murder.
By Willmen Blanco
