Naiping Hou, 74, left his home on Monday without his phone and never returned. California authorities believe his disappearance is linked to his family's cryptocurrency holdings.
Days later, his silver Toyota Yaris was found abandoned near a hiking trail in Rancho Cucamonga. Mr. Hou was declared missing on May 4, and investigators now suspect he may have been abducted.
On July 7, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department confirmed that the Special Investigations Unit was treating the case as a “suspicious incident,” after discovering “serious fraudulent activity” involving Mr. Hou's bank account.
An unnamed suspect is believed to have used Mr. Hou’s phone and “impersonated him to contact his family members,” according to a statement from the police department. No arrests have been made, but the possibility of a targeted crime has not been ruled out.
Mr. Hou’s son, Wen Hou, has offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to his father’s safe return. Wen believes someone stole his father’s identity and siphoned more than $1 million from his accounts.
Wen Hou is a cryptocurrency millionaire and has been the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of venture capital firm Coincident Capital since 2019. Wen said his father had no reason to disappear on his own.
“I miss him so much,” Wen told local media. “He was the one who guided my life,” he said in an interview with KABC.
However, wealthy people in the crypto world often become easy targets when they “show off their wealth online, ignore security, or trust people close to them,” according to Nick Harris of blockchain investigation firm CryptoCare.
Harris argues that poor security practices, coupled with the misconception that cryptocurrencies are completely anonymous (despite the fact that blockchains are traceable), have left users even more vulnerable.
Many victims are unaware that they have exposed their personal information through social media, leaked data or blockchain wallet activity, said Snir Levi, founder and CEO of risk management and compliance platform Nominis.
“Unfortunately, many people still don’t realize that everything they post on social media can reveal their location and crypto holdings,” Levi shared.
Aside from individual behavior, Levi stressed that platforms like cryptocurrency exchanges also have a responsibility to protect users — especially when leaked data can tie identities to wallet addresses.
“Exchanges need to treat user data as valuable as their crypto assets,” Levi said.
Mr. Hou’s disappearance reflects a more dangerous and growing trend: physical threats tied to digital assets.
The danger is becoming more and more obvious.
In the crypto industry, this trend is known as “wrench attacks” — a term for robberies that can start as simple theft but turn violent when the bad guys use force to force the victim to reveal information like seed phrases or wallet access codes.
“We are seeing a marked increase in kidnappings, threats, or detentions of people in order to seize their crypto assets,” Levi warned.
Nick Harris from CryptoCare also confirmed that the phenomenon is “clearly on the rise.” In the first half of this year alone, 22 incidents were reported globally.
Currently, police forces and authorities have deployed “cybercrime units and blockchain forensics teams” to trace transactions in ongoing investigations, Mr. Harris said.
