A British Columbia household suffered a harrowing 13-hour ordeal in April 2024 when masked intruders, posing as mail carriers, pressured entry into their Port Moody residence in a meticulously deliberate assault.
The assailants beat, waterboarded, and threatened the household—husband, spouse, and teenage daughter—to acquire entry to their bitcoin accounts.
The attackers, speaking in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, certain the household with zip ties, demanded passwords, and subjected each mother and father to waterboarding.
The daughter was additionally victimized, with threats and psychological abuse used to coerce the mother and father into cooperating.
Orchestrated crime and aftermath
The attackers initially demanded 200 bitcoin, however after studying the daddy didn’t possess that a lot, they settled for 30 BTC, value roughly $1.6 million on the time.
The household was reportedly focused because of the father’s fame for boasting about his bitcoin success throughout the neighborhood.
Decide Robin McQuillan, who sentenced Hong Kong nationwide Tsz Wing Boaz Chan to seven years in jail, described the occasion as “elaborately deliberate” and famous its extreme emotional and monetary influence.
The daughter finally escaped and contacted police, who recovered weapons, surveillance gadgets, and linked Chan to the crime by DNA and CCTV proof.
The opposite attackers stay at giant.
Rise in wrench assaults on bitcoin holders
Consultants warn that so-called “wrench assaults,” the place criminals use bodily violence to steal digital belongings, have gotten more and more frequent.
In keeping with a latest TRMLabs report, such assaults on bitcoin holders have greater than doubled previously yr, making safety a rising concern for these with vital holdings.
Classes for bitcoin safety
This incident underscores the dangers confronted by people recognized for his or her bitcoin possession.
Safety specialists suggest holding digital asset holdings personal and utilizing sturdy safety practices.