France saw its 10th crypto kidnapping this year as a man was abducted for €5,000 and his Ledger key. It’s unclear how many tokens were in his hard wallet, but the attackers have not been arrested yet.
Law enforcement has been taking this horrifying pattern very seriously, arresting gang ringleaders in Morocco earlier this month. Either the gang is still active, or unrelated copycats are at work. Both scenarios are ominous.
France Sees Another Crypto Kidnapping
The crypto industry has always had a seedier element, but today’s crime wave is a whole new level of violence. Crypto kidnappings have taken place on multiple continents, but France is seeing an especially dark period.
According to local reports, the nation witnessed another incident, which is the tenth such attack this year.
So far, France’s law enforcement agencies have only provided rough details on the kidnapping victim.
A 23-year-old man was abducted in Maisons-Alfort, a suburb of Paris, and his romantic partner was forced to hand over 5,000 euros and his wallet password. Police have not disclosed how much money was in this wallet or whether the victim ran a business in the industry.
This last question is especially concerning. The authorities vowed to pass new measures protecting France’s crypto entrepreneurs from kidnapping.
Web3 CEOs, founders, and their relatives have been targeted in this spree of violence, creating a climate of fear in the nation’s crypto community.
Earlier this month, France cooperated with Morocco to arrest key kidnapping ringleaders, but some of the suspects remained at large. Moreover, these men routinely hired or enticed local muscle to carry out the violence without even setting foot in France.
In other words, these imprisoned ringleaders might not have anything to do with today’s incident. A single organized gang began the crime spree, but it’s international news right now. For all we know, today’s attackers could’ve been copycats.
Both of these possibilities are very scary for France, especially because today’s kidnapping was ostensibly successful. The perpetrators knew about the victim’s hard wallet, obtained it, and haven’t been arrested yet.
Apparently, the government’s efforts to prevent this sensational crime wave have been insufficient so far.
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