The latest reported “wrench attack,” in which criminals targeted individuals for their crypto holdings, occurred in the suburbs of Paris this week.
France has reportedly seen another incident targeting cryptocurrency users, this time involving the kidnapping of a 23-year-old man in a Paris suburb.
According to a Thursday report from French news outlet Le Parisien, the victim was abducted in Maisons-Alfort and held captive for several hours while the perpetrators demanded his partner to turn over 5,000 euros ($5,764) in cash, along with the key to a Ledger hardware wallet containing an unreported amount of crypto.
The report suggested that the criminals used violence to extract information regarding his digital assets.
The unnamed man was reportedly held captive on Tuesday before being released in the town of Créteil. As of Thursday, authorities had not reported that any arrests had been made in the case.
The alleged kidnapping and ransom incident was the latest in a series of crimes involving individuals targeting people for their crypto holdings, with some cases reportedly involving torture for access to seed phrases or keys. In one high-profile case in May, three men tried to kidnap the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Paymium.
Related: France arrests over 12 suspects linked to crypto kidnappings: Report
Worldwide problem for crypto holders
The cases, sometimes referred to as “wrench attacks,” are not limited to France. In New York, two individuals were indicted for kidnapping and false imprisonment of a tourist to allegedly gain access to his crypto wallet. News outlets in India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Spain have released similar stories involving the kidnapping and ransom of crypto holders in the last five years.
Jameson Lopp, an early Bitcoin (BTC) adopter, cypherpunk, and co-founder of BTC custody company Casa, reported 232 physical attacks on crypto holders in the last 11 years. Hal Finney, a computer scientist and the recipient of the first-ever BTC transaction, was “swatted” — had a SWAT team sent to his home — in 2014 after individuals threatened to expose his personal information if he didn’t hand over a crypto ransom.
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