A criminal kidnapped his acquaintance for $1.8 million in ETH

With the popularity of cryptocurrencies, the number of people who want to earn money grows. But not everyone wants to dive into the technology. For example, 35-year-old Louis Mesa from New York City decided to resort to a good old-fashioned armed robbery and kidnapped his acquaintance to get the keys to his Ethereum wallet.

Mesa met his acquaintance, and then ordered a car for him. After luring the victim into the car, the criminal began to threaten him with a pistol, took away his phone and his keys to his apartment, and demanded access to the wallet. Having received what he wanted, Mesa went to the apartment where there was an Ethereum hardware wallet. According to the video surveillance cameras, he left the apartment with a box with the wallet inside.

Meanwhile, the victim managed to escape and call the police. The criminal was arrested but he managed to transfer the cryptocurrency to his wallet (about $1.8 million at the current rate).

The district attorney of Manhattan, Cyrus Vance, has already brought charges of robbery, kidnapping, and several charges of cyber fraud.

The prosecutor believes that the number of such crimes, in which violence and the violation of computer security are combined, will only grow as cryptocurrencies become more popular.

Often the victims of fraud are those who want to cash out on their earnings from the cryptocurrency while trying to hide them from tax authorities. They communicate with unknown people who offer cash in exchange for Bitcoins, but end up without either. This practice is made easier because of the absence of legal status of cryptocurrencies in some countries or a ban on them altogether.

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