QUADRIGA INITIATIVE
CRYPTO WATCHDOG & FRAUD RECOVERY PLATFORM
A COMMUNITY-BASED, NOT-FOR-PROFIT
$67 000 USD
NOVEMBER 2018
SOUTH AFRICA
NONE
DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS
"[A] South African Bitcoin trader, only identified as Andrew" "met an African man on Facebook who invited him to do a cryptocurrency presentation which was later to be followed by another one at a different venue in Lanseria. Andrew claims that he arrived at the venue of the presentation at around 1 PM where his audience consisted of two women and four men." "The trader was lured by a man he met on Facebook on the pretext that he would make a presentation about bitcoin and cryptocurrency." "According to the man, known only as Andrew, after meeting a man on Facebook, he was invited to do a presentation on the cryptocurrency in Ntuli Street in Meadowlands Zone Five subsequent to another meeting at Cresta Centre." "He was invited by an African male that he first met on the internet and thereafter at Cresta Centre, during the presentation there were six people present two of which were females and four males." "The complainant Andrew alleges that on November 16 at 01:00 pm he went to Ntuli street Meadowlands Zone 5 to do a presentation on bitcoin."
"Nov. 16, 2018, could potentially turn out to be one of the worst days for [him]." "At about 1 pm, he entered the residence to conduct the presentation to four men and two women. According to the trader, someone approached him from behind and stuck a cloth, presumed to be drug-infused, in his face after which he passed out unconscious." "Little did he know that it was a setup." "The trader says that he was grabbed from behind, his face covered with a cloth presumed to be infused with drugs and eventually passed out. By the time he regained consciousness, he had already been transported to a new place where he was surrounded by two women and three men."
"The victim was stripped of his clothing, beaten, and tortured. The group of robbers demanded to be given his Bitcoin password and FNB (a South African bank) account details."
"The bitcoin trader was stripped of his clothing, beaten, and tortured." "He was burnt with a hot iron and threated with death if he did not give them the information they wanted." "He eventually succumbed to the torture and gave his attackers the information they wanted. He was even forced to transfer R100,000 from his bank to an account they gave him."
"[A]fter he was tortured and subsequently lost R800,000 (~US$59,000) in Bitcoins, R3,000 ($220) in cash, and transferred R100,000 ($7,400) from his bank account to a one designated to him by the robbers, reported the SowetoUrban."
"The man also lost two laptops and two Apple iPhones as a result of the robbery that required a little bit of planning, more of greed, and inflicting the worst possible pain on the victim."
"After the robbery, the victim was blindfolded and dropped off in the middle of a road. He sustained burn wounds on his body organs and is currently recovering in the Alberton Union Hospital Intensive Care Unit." "The thieves robbed him of R 3 000 in cash, two laptops, and two Apple iPhones before blindfolding the victim and dropping him off at Kliprivier Road on the R550."
"The police (SAPS) have opened a case of robbery but no arrests have been made so far."
A South African was invited to give a presentation on cryptocurrency. When he arrived, he was stripped, beaten, and burned. The theives demanded all of his money, including bitcoin, cash, and funds in his bank account. It's unclear if any funds were recovered.
HOW COULD THIS HAVE BEEN PREVENTED?
There was no reason to bring any money to the presentation. The majority of funds should be kept in a secure and unknown location, in cold storage. More advanced users should set up a multi-signature wallet with high security around all signatures. It's a useful idea to keep a wallet with a smaller balance that can be given up in case of an attack, and not to share information about the level of wealth an individual has.
Guaymallén: Man loses $6K in Argentina's bitcoin robbery - WIVACOIN (Mar 1)
South African Bitcoin Trader Tortured, Drugged, and Beaten in a Crypto Robbery - WIVACOIN (Mar 5)
Man beaten, drugged and tortured for coin | Soweto Urban (Mar 5)
