The acquisition of cryptocurrencies is becoming more infamous in India, even among authorities empowered to protect lives and properties.
According to a report in Quartz India, nine police officers were recently arrested in Gujarat, India for kidnapping a businessman and extorted both cash and bitcoins worth $49,12,000 from him as ransom. The shameful act occurred in February, according to the report.
The victim claims that the officers took him to a secret location and forced him to transfer 200 bitcoins from one wallet to another. 200 bitcoin is approximately $1.6 million at the current market price.
This isn’t the first crypto-related crime in India. Last month, a complaint was lodged by a jewelry dealer claiming that his bitcoins worth Rs. 11.57 lakh (approximately $17,000) were hijacked from his wallet at Zebpay, India’s largest crypto exchange. Also, there have been recorded cases of crypto exchange hacks that have greatly affected investors in the country.
The rate of cryptocurrency-related crime around the world is becoming alarming. For example, a five-man gang in Istanbul pretended as policemen just to extort 450 bitcoins from a businessman at gunpoint.
According to reports gathered by local news, the five robbers were tracked down. One of them escaped from jail, and another hosted an extravagant ceremony in a 5-star restaurant for his girlfriend. The gang had previously stolen cryptocurrency mining devices from three individuals.
A Mexican lawyer was also kidnapped for bitcoin, but authorities acted fast and apprehended the perpetrators and recover the extorted money. Thieves are always attracted to valuable assets, and bitcoin is no exception. Even, it has a great advantage for the criminal because it is difficult to track when stolen (but not impossible).
During a conference called the “Satoshi Roundtable” that was held in Cancun two months ago, this subject was a topic of discussion. Jameson Lopp, an infrastructure engineer, who attended the conference relayed that the discussion during the meeting was mainly on preventing hacks by storing funds in cold wallets (offline).