BlockBeats news: On Monday, January 9, three masked men broke into a residence in Manosque, France. They used guns to force a woman to hand over a USB drive containing her partner's cryptocurrency data.
According to France's Parisien newspaper, the incident occurred at a residence on a cherry trail in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region. The attacker threatened the victim with a pistol and slapped her, then stole a USB drive and fled the scene. It is reported that the female victim was not injured and managed to free herself within a few minutes before calling the police. Local authorities have launched an investigation, and the case has been handed over to the regional criminal investigation department and the regional headquarters of the National Police for further handling.
Last year, Jameson Lopp, Chief Technology Officer at security company Casa, recorded over 70 incidents of violent attacks involving cryptocurrency in his public database. France has become a hotspot for such violent crimes in Europe, with more than 14 related cases. David Sehyeon, a cybercrime consultant, told Decrypt: "France has a relatively high baseline level of criminal activity. The visibility of cryptocurrency wealth held by entrepreneurs, traders, and public figures, combined with growing local expertise in digital assets, together create a fertile ground for more speculative and organized cryptocurrency-related crimes."