S African Crypto Trader Tortured into Giving Up $60,000 in Bitcoin

Published on 16 November 2023 by Cryptovest Staff

A South African man was tortured and forced to transfer $60,000 worth of BTC to a group of robbers, in addition to handing over some cash, two laptops, and two iPhones.

While cryptocurrency-related crime generally takes place in the cyber realm, a group of crypto criminals in South Africa decided to adopt a more ‘hands-on’ approach. A crypto trader in South Africa found himself drugged, beaten, and robbed of 800,000 rand (approximately $60,000) worth of Bitcoin, as reported by local news source Soweto Urban.

The victim, referred to as Andrew, claims he met a man on Facebook who invited him to give a presentation on Bitcoin in Ntuli Street in Meadowlands Zone Five on November 16. After entering the premises, he was allegedly approached from behind and rendered unconscious with a drug-infused cloth clamped over his mouth.

Upon regaining consciousness, he found he’d been shifted to another location, where a group of people stripped, beat, and tortured him into giving up his Bitcoin password along with his First National Bank account details. According to police reports, the victim was burnt with a hot iron and threatened with murder if he did not disclose the information.

The trader yielded under the torture and threats and transferred 800,000 rand worth of BTC to an account provided by the group. He was also made to transfer 100,000 rand (around $7,000) from his bank account to one specified by the robbers, as well as give up 3,000 rand (just over $200) in cash, two laptops, and two iPhones. He was then blindfolded and dropped off at another location.

The case is currently under investigation by the police, while the victim, who sustained burn wounds on various parts of his body, is in intensive care at the Alberton Union Hospital.

While crypto scams and hacks abound, this year has seen the emergence of a disturbing trend of crypto criminals resorting to kidnapping and robbery. In addition, this is not the first case of Bitcoin robbery to come out of South Africa: in May, three suspects were detained after a child was reportedly kidnapped for crypto ransom.