BlockBeats News, January 9th. This Monday evening, three masked men broke into a residence in Manosque, France, held a woman at gunpoint, and stole a USB drive containing her partner's cryptocurrency data.
According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the incident took place at a residence on Cherry Orchard Path in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region. The attackers threatened the victim with a handgun, slapped her, took the USB drive, and fled the scene. The victim, reportedly unharmed, managed to free herself within minutes and alerted the authorities. Local police have opened an investigation, with the case assigned to the regional criminal investigation department and the national police.
Last year, Casa's Chief Technology Officer, Jameson Lopp, documented over 70 cryptocurrency-related violent attacks worldwide in his public database, with France emerging as a hotspot for such crimes in Europe, with over 14 related cases. Cybercrime consultant David Sehyeon told Decrypt, "France has a relatively high baseline of criminal activity, and the cryptocurrency wealth held by entrepreneurs, traders, and public figures is quite prominent. Coupled with the growth of local digital asset expertise, these factors together have created a breeding ground for more speculative and organized cryptocurrency-related crimes."
