Topic: Increasing kidnapping and ransom. Privacy is important. - page 2. (Read 635 times)

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

Privacy is important but some people still neglect this phase of security, not just your Bitcoin but also your live is important. These are just some of the known stories with happy endings after the kidnappers have been apprehended, what about those that were not caught in the act, news that are not also published in the internet.

Victims like this, are commonly those who display publicly as a crypto trader, Bitcoin investor or having as much relation with cryptocurrencies and this creates awareness and open location for those who would one day draft on how to steal your assets. Remaining anonymous will always save our live and assets. 

If you check all those cases a very good investigation will always review that the crypto holder himself is responsible for his privacy and letting out information that is used to carry out the crime against them, it is very important to know the basic features of Bitcoin which are privacy and we need to practice that privacy, you can never hear me discussing anything related to cryptocurrency in my environment reason is that there is already a stereotype belief about cryptocurrency that anyone holding it must be a wealthy person most especially bitcoin.

The rising cases of crimes and random demands I'm crypto have exposed the level of knowledge that the bad guys have about cryptocurrency and privacy right now so the best we can do is not to let out any traces. No one should identify you as a cryptocurrency trader and what the heck. Low key and high privacy.

Yes, in fact, many people in certain social circles don't have to say it to imply it through ostentation, but as bit mover just said, it is much more safe to say it when you don't have the direct custody of your funds.

On the other hand, I thought that only crypto millionaires would have that kind of problems, but looking at the numbers in the OP (especially the case of the 40k) I think that many holders are not entirely free of danger even if they don't have a great fortune inside their keys, if you accept the expression. Which is surprising because many cars are worth more than that, and I don't hear of people being extorted to take from them their car keys, except perhaps a very specific case.



I'm afraid that I'd be tagged somehow just by visiting this link

Perhaps when my sats are worth millions I will take my personal security as seriously as Lopp, but thanks for the info NAT.

Privacy matters but many people don't care about their privacy which relates not only to their money, but their lives.

Many physical attacks reported so far, and cases shared above are new ones to the list. Human instinct is almost the same, and many people will continue their ignorance on importance of privacy on their lives.

[1] https://github.com/jlopp/physical-bitcoin-attacks
[2] https://github.com/demining/Physical-Bitcoin-Attacks

If your privacy and life matter with you, you will never share your private information like "I am a Bitcoin investor, a cryptocurrency investor" and show your wealthness to public eyes.

the issue here is not that they are targeting those holding crypto alone, most of the kidnap cases i have read about have to do with just a regular person but the kidnappers on their own end will demand that the ransom be paid to a crypto wallet which they can trade without easily being caught. the thing is that, with increase adoption comes a surge in the numbers of persons that would want to make use of it in the wrong way because the bad eggs are regularly looking for ways of carrying out their dubious activity effortlessly without being caught. the highest we can do is to strive never to be victim of kidnappers because with or without crypto, they will still device a means of getting their ransom. armed robbers are currently making use of point of sales machine in robbing victims on a motor vehicle, should the point of sales machine be banned because some guys choose to use it for the wrong cause?

Buy one of these:



https://www.amazon.com/XYTEC-Head-Mounted-Infrared-Binoculars-Observation/dp/B0DJRC3F7L

and get a good automatic gun.

Self-defense is important. Don't expect the cops to do it for you.

These night-vision goggles are useful if the lights are out and the assailants break in at night.

Pepper spray would be great too if it's just a single guy. You don't want anybody coming into your home and causing a ruckus just because they want your money.

And don't go to strange places, that's how you solve the problem of getting kidnapped while abroad.

Jameson Lopp takes his personal security seriously - so should you.

This statement looks very short, but many people have no idea that it can prevent them from facing casualties, especially when it has to do with finance/Bitcoin. I don't think kidnappers are into guessing games, thereby making guesses on those that holds Bitcoin and those that don't. The truth is, they always get the right and accurate information on their victims.

There is this current story that is still buzzing on the internet, though it's not a hostage situation, but it is related to Bitcoin theft. The victim was actually among those that bought Bitcoin in the early days, and he was quite known for it. After following up with the story, I realized that those who carried out the operation where able to do so, not just because the victim wasn't smart enough to tell that he was being scammed, but because victim's privacy had long gone. I think the case is still in court, and it will resume this coming week if I remember correctly.  Here is the video: https://youtu.be/GqPeE_7Nlqg?si=QA95KlgSHmopHzGL


I haven't read about this attack, but will do that right away.

Not surprising that number of crimes related to this matter is increasing since the fame of crypto is increasing. Some jerks around would really think that once you are a crypto user then automatically you are reach for those people who doesn't know. That's why those criminal minded people will do those crimes and possibly take whatever they can get from their victims.

That's why it always good for us crypto users to stay low key all the times and don't flaunt out balances online or give a hint that we have crypto holdings since there are evil eyes watching around and we don't know on when they attack us. So safety should be our main priority on this situation and better be silent on our financial dealings.

Well I disagree. In fact, I agree but let me explain 

I was talking about the chance of being kidnapped which, for me, is equivalent. I mean, a thief entering your house could kidnap you and request that you send a remittance or that you withdraw money and give them ransom in cash.

In any case, being kidnapped must be a terrible situation, so for me, it doesn't matter what the reason is (crypto or bank), but the situation itself.