Three suspects in a crypto wrench attack ring have been charged, according to reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.
According to the reporting, the three men have been charged in two specific crimes, but police believe that they’re part of a larger operation and are tied to several similar crimes.
The criminals apparently used a similar technique for these crimes, namely:
- Identifying a major cryptocurrency holder.
- Researching and surveilling that cryptocurrency holder. A detective who spoke to the Chronicle described this, saying, “They figure out your trends, your life cycle, what do you normally order online, What do you normally order for takeout?”
- The criminals attempt to gain access to accounts; in the case of one victim who spoke to the Chronicle, “for me, it was my DoorDash and Uber Eats accounts.”
- The criminals would then create a fake delivery, meet the victim at the door, and then threaten them.
Wrench attacks are inherent risk
Cryptocurrency’s censorship-resistant transfers as well as its pseudonymous nature make holders an attractive target for these types of attacks.
These attacks that don’t try to bypass the cryptographic security that protects the assets but use threats and violence to influence the person who has access to the keys.
Indeed, kidnappings and extortion have become an international problem for cryptocurrency holders and firms.
Game developer Sillytuna reports losing $24M of crypto in UK ‘wrench’ attack
These attacks have included French firm Waltio and UK-based Sillytuna.
France has become something of a leader when it comes to this type of activity, with even Ledger co-founder David Balland targeted.
The utility of cryptocurrency for this type of attack has resulted in even non-cryptocurrency holders having ransoms demanded in bitcoin ($BTC). Prominently, Nancy Guthrie, the mother of TODAY Show host Savannah Guthrie, has been kidnapped and her apparent kidnappers have sought the ransom in $BTC.