As a crypto fund owner, the only way to access funds is to use a private key. This key is very secure thanks to cryptography software and needs serious processing power to find out. There is a new problem being faced by crypto investors of late.
Mafiosi and criminal gangs have come up with a new idea to go around the private key problem. They have started targeting crypto owners directly in a novel way. They have started threatening crypto owners directly and physically for this information. They use a $5 wrench to do the job. On Wednesday, a group of 8 men were arrested in Maharashtra for kidnapping and threatening a crypto trader. The group included a police officer. They demanded ransom to release him. This incident took place in Pimpri-Chinchwad, a suburb of Pune. Pune is a short drive from the financial capital, Mumbai.
It seems that the police constable Dilip Khandare learned that the crypto trader had $40.1 million in crypto investments during his stint in the cybercrime section. The trader was released after his friend filed a missing person report with the police.
In a similar case in November 2021, 4 people apparently broke into Dentzel Zaryn’s home in Spain and tried to coerce him to part with his private keys. Zaryn is an American tech entrepreneur with $58 million in BTC funds. When he refused to do so, he was tortured for the keys. There are reports of another case in Hong Kong where a crypto trader was held for a week before he was rescued.
