Attacks on crypto holders in Trinidad increase; gunmen steal $85,800 in ambush

Two gunmen fled with about $85,800 in cash after ambushed a cryptocurrency buyer during a parking lot transaction in Trinidad. This is the latest in a series of violent attacks targeting digital asset holders around the world.

Sources said the Arouca resident was sitting in his car in the parking lot of Super Farm on Trincity Central Road last Saturday evening when the robbery occurred. report by local media trinidad and tobago newsday.

He handed a colleague of two years at Belmont a black bag filled with cash that he planned to use to buy cryptocurrencies.

Shortly after the money was handed over, two hooded men with guns appeared at the windows of both cars, tapped on the windows, and declared a robbery. The attackers then fled in a getaway car after taking cash and the couple’s cell phones.

The investigation is still ongoing. decryption We have contacted Trinidad and Tobago Police for further comment.

Wrench attacks are on the rise around the world

Jameson Ropp, co-founder and chief security officer of self-custody platform Casa, maintains a database that tracks such incidents and documents: 60 wrench attacks Even just this year.

Recently, in San Francisco, a man disguised as a delivery driver tied up a homeowner with duct tape and forced him to surrender at gunpoint. $11 million The equivalent of access to a cryptocurrency wallet, phone, or laptop.

The worst incident occurred last month, with the arrest of Russian crypto mogul Roman Novak and his wife. killed in the united arab emirates After agreeing to meet with a person believed to be an investor who forced him to unlock his cryptocurrency wallet.

“What started out as digital harassment is increasingly manifesting as physical violence,” said David Sehyun Baek, a cybercrime consultant. decryptionnoted that wrench attacks currently occur around the world at a rate of approximately one per week.

He explained that attackers are also using blockchain analysis and AI-powered reconnaissance to track movements and cash outflow activities in real time.

“These are not random crimes, but calculated assaults based on data,” he said. “As the line between the virtual and physical worlds becomes dangerously thin, communities must stop ignoring online threats as harmless trolls.”