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Crypto investigator ZachXBT has noted a sharp surge in reported offline cryptocurrency thefts in Western Europe, with cases often involving violent home invasions. Victims have reportedly been tracked down via stolen personal information gleaned from data breaches. These physical thefts have compelled ZachXBT to stress the importance of personal safety and discretion within the crypto community. In recent years, there have been numerous documented incidents of offline crypto robberies worldwide while several high-profile individuals in the crypto industry have become victims of highly-organised criminal groups targeting their crypto assets.

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Crypto investigator ZachXBT has been receiving many reports of real-life crypto thefts lately. Posting on Oct 10, he mentioned that he’s been getting messages from victims of home invasion crypto thefts in Western Europe, far more than from any other part of the world in recent months.

In a post made on his Telegram channel on Sept 27, ZachXBT pointed out he knows of several crypto community members who were held at gunpoint and had their crypto stolen.

He shared an incident where a victim who was robbed of $4.3 million of crypto in June 2024 had his address and personal information stolen due to a data breach. This allowed the criminals to track him down. Allegedly, the thieves pretended to deliver a package, entered the victim’s home armed with machetes, and forced him to transfer all his crypto to two wallet addresses which have not been used since.

Through sharing such incidents, ZachXBT hopes to stress the importance of personal safety within the crypto community. He advises against sharing details about personal crypto holdings on social media or with friends.

According to GitHub, there have been at least 15 incidents of offline crypto thefts from various countries in the last year alone, with 17 in 2023, and 32 in 2021. They include cases of physical robbery and extortion for Bitcoin dating back to 2014.

In a recent case, Nick Drakon, former CEO of crypto research and education platform Revelo Intel, reported being monitored and robbed by a highly organized group, causing him to step down from his position. In another, a man from Florida was convicted of leading multiple violent home invasions with the purpose of stealing victims’ crypto between December 2022 and July 2023.

Source: Cointelegraph