The Chaco Police, a province in Argentina, together with authorities in Buenos Aires, dismantled on Tuesday (3) a criminal organization that operated in the city of Resistencia and was dedicated to the armed robbery of cryptocurrencies – a crime that has been growing worldwide. According to information from the entity, three people were arrested.
“The organization specializes in identifying people with cryptocurrencies, breaking into their homes and, through threats of firearms and physical assault, forcing them to transfer their digital assets to accounts under their control, inside and outside the country,” authorities said.
The prisoners — two men and one woman — were charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. The operation also resulted in the seizure of cash in various currencies, cryptocurrencies, electronic equipment and firearms.
“A hard blow against cybercrime that reaffirms our commitment to the safety of the population of Chaco,” the police said on their Instagram account.
Vehicle identification documents, household appliances, debit and credit cards, as well as “seed phrases,” sequences of words that function as recovery keys for cryptocurrency wallets, and other key elements for the investigation were also seized, police said.
According to the Chaco Police, the case began to be investigated after a complaint in April of this year, when a man reported that four people violently invaded his home and held him hostage under threats and torture.
The Cybercrimes Department began an intensive investigation in conjunction with specialized units and the Buenos Aires Police. Judge Rodolfo Guillermo Ártico Denier then issued arrest warrants and search and seizure warrants.
During the attack, the entity explains, they forced him to open his virtual wallets and share his passwords, allowing the criminals to carry out unauthorized transactions of approximately US$ 120 thousand in cryptocurrencies.
In this case, police are investigating whether a content creator on OnlyFans may have played a key role in the attack, as she had interacted with the victim in the past. According to Infobae, data collected by investigators suggests that the woman had acted as a delivery person, facilitating the operation of the gang that kidnapped, tortured and robbed the trader.
Tracking stolen funds
Using the forensic tool from blockchain company Chainalysis, the police were able to reconstruct the route of the funds.
As published, from its origin in victims' accounts, through a complex network of more than 20 anonymous addresses on the blockchain, multiple token conversions through swaps on decentralized exchanges, to the point where the assets were transformed into fiat currency and withdrawn.
A digital connection between the victim and the content creator, combined with the movement of money, the website reports, led to the inference that the woman was the one providing confidential information to the rest of the gang. Analysis of the funds revealed that she also received a portion of the stolen money, which reinforced the hypothesis of her direct involvement in the crime.
Recent attacks on cryptocurrency investors
With Bitcoin hitting all-time highs this year, the target on the backs of Bitcoin investors has never been bigger, as evidenced by several physical attacks in recent months in various parts of the world.
The most recent attack occurred just a few days ago in Uganda, when Mitroplus Labs founder Festo Ivaibi was allegedly kidnapped near his home and forced at gunpoint to transfer cryptocurrency worth around half a million dollars.
In France, a series of horrific kidnappings and attempted kidnappings have alarmed the crypto community. Notably, the father of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur was kidnapped in Paris earlier this month, having a finger amputated to pressure him into paying a ransom of between €5 and €7 million in crypto assets.
He was rescued after two days in captivity, and five suspects were arrested. In another case, the pregnant daughter of a cryptocurrency CEO and her child were the target of a broad-daylight kidnapping attempt, also in Paris, that was foiled by passersby. It was one of six attacks that have occurred there since January.
In the United States, three teenagers kidnapped a Las Vegas man in November after he attended a cryptocurrency conference and drove him about 60 miles (100 kilometers) away to the Mojave Desert, where they demanded access to his cryptocurrency.
They left him there after stealing $4 million in digital assets. Two of the suspects, both 16 and originally from Florida, were recently captured and now face multiple criminal charges, including kidnapping and robbery.
