Topic: Increasing kidnapping and ransom. Privacy is important. (Read 492 times)

Who the heck will have a connection with the Internet when there are kidnappers, the moment they connect to the Internet to check their wallet their location is already compromised, those kidnappers know this, and that is why they prefer ransom payment physical cash, most of them don't use phone at least the until they want to communicate for ransom negotiations, I remember when a friend of mine was kidnapped everything paid in cash no Banks or Internet usage.


No one should think that crypto transactions is if the untraceable if the government and its agencies want to track a wallet it can be tracked so cryptocurrency is not a welcome idea for ransom payment Fiat remains the most preferred for those kids of concealed financial crimes.

As a crypto investor, privacy is very important; not let anyone know that you are into crypto or even know about it.
 
However, we are living in a world where everything is being digitalized, and almost everyone believes that their co-neighbors, friends, or family members must have one way or the other know about crypto or are invested in it. Kidnapping them to demand crypto as a means of payment for their release makes it easier for them without being traced since crypto payment and receive can be anonymously done

Most fiat ransom in my country are done in a way that no trace is left. The crypto ones that we read recently, the attackers are known and arrested. Cash is the most anonymous way to collect money from someone, unlike cryptocurrencies that can be traced. Some people kidnapped the relatives and demanded cryptocurrency in a way that the victim is with them also just like it is in fiat ransom. They will not release the victim until the family pay the ransom or police was able to trace the kidnapper. Most kidnappers are not traceable in countries like mine. It is a common illegal business involving fiat.

That is only the best way to avoid harm's way, yet some investors appear not to be aware that living an expensive lifestyle is unsafe. Many people prefer to show off their wealth and oppress others; otherwise, if we can live a low life, nobody would notice that we own any cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, kidnappers demanding bitcoin is not something new, since it is the most safe way for kidnappers to collect ramson.

Furthermore, if the kidnappers want ramson in cryptocurrency, they feel it will not be traceable to them. In my country Nigeria, there was a story of a 20-year-old student who faked being kidnapped and asked his father for money. They demanded a ransom of around N50 million in Bitcoin, and the price of Bitcoin at that time was around $60k last year. The father paid N5 million in Bitcoin, and they spent N2 million out of the money they received in two days. We must maintain a low profile and enjoy life since we have no idea who could be after us.

Indeed, we should not forget that Bitcoin was not only created for a decentralized ecosystem or financial freedom, but also for maintaining privacy. And why this is included, we can already understand from the various kidnappings or harassment incidents in the current era. And if we notice that Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto has kept his identity hidden, this also indicates that privacy does matter. Otherwise, there is no shortage of bad people in the world, so no one can say when we will find ourselves in such a situation.

Such incidents are also happening in our Bangladesh, although due to the absence of the previous government, the issues have decreased a bit. Especially last year and before, we have seen that various police constables and officers have taken advantage of the illegality of cryptocurrency in Bangladesh and have forcibly taken bitcoin from freelancers by threats. Moreover, there are also incidents of kidnapping, but only because cryptocurrency is illegal, these issues are covered up.

All this can happen to anyone whether they hold bitcoins or not. One of the major reasons bitcoiners tend to be victims of these is because they expose themselves to these problems. Bitcoin is just a big deal to some people, they are usually happy to announce to anyone and everyone that they hold bitcoins, but won't do same for fiat. Simple security tips would definitely keep us safe; take your financial life off from the eyes of the public. They do not deserve to know anything about your financial life. Bitcoiners need to learn now not to move around with the devices that hold their wallets. Any little mistake can cost them their bitcoins, including physical theft of the device and other hacks using USB cables and many more.

Even if some millionaire shouts that, thief would have to rob a bank to get to your money or kidnap your family member and ask for money and neither of those things are very easy to do. In the case of crypto millionaire, its enough to beat him up until he gives you seed which is much easier. 

Some people are actually careless with their privacy out there. I really don't know what is fancy in showing off your crypto holding in public but on several occasions, I have come across people doing this in taxi and eatery scrolling through their various crypto wallets without remorse. Privacy is actually a power and people can not destroy what they don't know. People are very ignorant and that word "crypto" sounds rich/wealth to their ears. They don't really care whether you have much or not, as long as you are involved in crypto they assume you are rich and wealthy.

Advisably, our public mobile should not contain our crypto wallets for security reason. Get yourself a portable mobile that will contain just your sim and SD card for communication purposes while you carry out your crypto related activities at home or a very private place with a separate phone. By so doing, even if you accidentally attacked you can not be forced to make any withdrawal since nothing related with crypto will not found in the portable phone.

Government will be happy to hear about this ill development thou. A transaction in our finance system can be traceable to the last person will be running in their head right now 

Yes that's the reality, those who think that Bitcoin is completely private, they don't know how Blockchain technology works, all transactions are very transparent and there are indeed some ways that are done to make it difficult to find transactions by using the Mixer Platform, but it is completely not transparent and the FBI or anyone can do detailed tracking using some trace wallet tool such as https://intel.arkm.com/, 
which allows tracing on all transactions carried out in great detail.



Yes, in the end everything will be on their main wallet, scammers will be easily caught and they sometimes do money laundering but they are also too careless.
People who just want to get attention, don't use any tools to try to eliminate traces of their transactions, it is done manually and yes their address can be known very easily because of their own carelessness.

Its absolutely uncalled for to show your networth to anyone, but the trusted and untrusted, because trust is a very expensive shit so no one can really afford it, learn to protect your privacy in the highest way you can and avoid showing off, what I do is I don't go on social media or even have any close Aly that I discuss anything with not only crypto related but all other assets, I hold I keep it to myself.


Friends or anyone you think you trust can change at anytime and any information you have already let out will remain with the hearer forever which is why, it is more better to guide your privacy and decipline yourself not to give in to show off and learn to be a lone walker.

Kidnappings started rising recently a ton of people started flexing their PnL on CT and everywhere else (publicly) and these are people that have already doxxed themselves yet still went on to flex.

It's not going to stop until people in crypto put a stop to it. I don't even think it's necessary to share networth unless you absolutely trust whoever you're telling.

I have a doubt here that their son for sure is very loud online, for example in social media where he always flexes his wealth and for example, is cryptocurrency. I know a lot of people doing this, flexing their sizes online and I believe it is really not good. Ourselves or even loved ones can't avoid their life being put in danger.

Too much publicity.

They are blind and stupid.  Most of them still think Bitcoin Transactions are fully Private and then they find the truth the hard way.

There are situations where this is actually good.  Scammers thinking Bitcoin is Private will ultimately lead to revealing their own identity, which is good.  But those who do it simply for attention can not comprehend what risks and consequences truly are.

With the digital stuffs today, like in any social media it is really important to not share any location-related stuff when sharing it on your feed then using the post "ATM" or something similar as people really will know that you are there, where you live, or the places where you usually going. Because even in a broad day light, you can be kidnapped once already planed by these malicious actors. Being lowkey is good but some or even most people are used to a show-off in socmed, these people might be some influencers, socmed celebrity, or just oversharer and attention seekers.

It's also important to remain lowkey at these times. The cons don't choose anyone anymore who they will target. As long as someone has mentioned crypto or Bitcoin on their feed, they'd probably part of their list.

Be careful who you trust and don't be too vocal with your achievements. While it's fine to be proud of it but make sure that you don't expose the biggest successes that you have.

This opens the idea to the bad guy that you've got plenty of money that they can extort from you. I remember a few years ago, there have been cases like this and it seems they're ballooning up to this point.

"Cool guys" really describes some of the current people who are trying to Flexing to attract more followers on Twitter(X) and other social media.
For some reason they never learn to protect themselves from bad things that will happen just for the sake of their social media engagement and for the sake of the followers they will get.

Even though the influencers who are actually doing their job don't flex their wallets with millions of dollars, or those who do that may not be able to find their identity and some people who have been doxxed have never provided information related to personal wallets.

But some fools who have Doxxed Flexed with wallets that are easy to know.

You probably already know the excitement that is happening in Pump.fun and many of them are live-streaming to get a lot of buyers on their coins and then dump.
Seeing the teenager who was streaming which was then supported by his mother then dumping made a lot of unexpected reactions from the whales so that he pumped back the coins he made, eventually people doxxing and all his family got into trouble because he did the rugpull.

Self-defence has become very important because of the increase in criminal activities. All these items you have mentioned are okay except for the automatic gun. In my country, individuals who are not security operatives cannot own such a gun. However there have been agitations by some legislators that guns should become legal since these criminals usually have access to guns.

Before now I usually tell people about Bitcoin investment just to promote Bitcoin awareness. But these days I am selective about the people I speak to and I never tell them that I own Bitcoin. We need to be careful since we don't know who is who.

With all these happenings, it is enough to tell us to take our safety and security very seriously. Our privacy matters as to financial dealings when it comes to crypto and bitcoin deals. On several occasions on this platform, people have created a post on kidnap and armed robbery attacks as it involves crypto exchange for ransom in their various countries and as such we should be able to protect ourselves by not being too open to public engagement as it relates to crypto. Try not to expose yourself to the public with your crypto activities. In my country, a boy was kidnapped because of him being too noisy about his crypto involvement, it was clear he did not know how to keep quiet about sensitive matters. He keeps talking anyhow and where he is not supposed to talk about crypto and his portfolio till he was kidnapped and ransom was paid in crypto to release him. Ever since he had that encounter, nobody has seen or heard from him till this moment as he relocated from the place he used to live to another city after he was released by the kidnappers.

Take your crypto privacy very seriously, not everybody deserves to know you are into crypto and bitcoin as you do not know who can turn the leaf against you at any moment to plan an attack. You just have to be cautious and not show anything related to Bitcoin in your home or surroundings, you can be as discrete as you can just for your safety and security.

Abduction is very common so it's not specifically related to crypto but more of your financial success status so it's our responsibility to protect ourselves from such crimes. Like many suggested never share your wealth status to strangers especially on the dating apps that's the place these criminals lurke for their prey.

And don't keep all your funds in single wallet in case of such incidents you can get away with losing let's say 25% of your wealth instead of 100%.

Yeah, that's the point

If you have 15 million in a bank, you can't even withdrawal it anytime. There is liquidity problems, assets allocated which can't be transferred,  bank must be informed first...

And transactions can be reversed.

Bitcoin is way simpler to rob