French Family Bound for Hours as Attackers Demand €40,000 in Crypto
Prosecutors said the attackers took about €40,000 in digital assets after holding the family captive for more than three hours and binding them with tape.
- Four masked men broke into a home in Vendin-le-Vieil on Sunday, holding a family captive for three hours and forcing the father to transfer approximately $46,000 in digital assets.
- Attackers separated the father from his family, assaulting him while demanding access to cryptocurrency. During the ordeal, the couple's 12-year-old daughter was struck in the face with car keys, according to a source close to the investigation.
- Regional judicial police and France's anti-cybercrime office launched an investigation into the kidnapping and extortion. All four suspects remain at large, while a victim support association is assisting the family.
- French authorities have recorded 77 cases involving kidnapping, extortion, or attempted offenses linked to cryptocurrency during 2026. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said authorities are expanding intelligence sharing to counter the sharp increase in physical crimes.
- Security firm CertiK recorded 52 wrench attacks worldwide during the first half of 2026, a 33.3% increase from the previous year. Home invasions targeting crypto holders rose to 20 cases during the same period.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Robbers force family to transfer $46k worth of crypto
ALBAWABA - A gang of masked robbers broke into a family’s home in France, not to steal valuables, but to force the father – who worked in tech – to transfer them $46,000 worth of cryptocurrency, a local prosecutor said Sunday...
It's 4:00 a.m. when four hooded and gloved men force the front door of a house in a residential area of Vendin-le-Vieil. Inside, a couple and their two children, aged eight and twelve, are tied up with scotch. The criminals know that the father of the family works in the cryptocurrency field. Isolated in another room, he is beaten, forced to transmit the codes of his accounts. The criminals manage to recover 40,000 euros and take the flight. (Po…
The suspects forced the father to "communicate his information and identification codes in order to steal 40 000 euros in cryptocurrency," according to a police source.
BFMTV reported on September 20 that four hooded men broke into a family home in Vendin-le-Vieil, north of France, and held a couple and their two children for more than three hours. The father, a 40-year-old computer worker employed in the cryptocurrency sector, was separated from the rest of the ... Read more
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