Gunmen Steal $85,800 in Crypto Ambush in Trinidad as Attacks on Holders Increase

Two gunmen escaped with about $85,800 in cash after ambushing a crypto buyer during a parking lot transaction in Trinidad, the latest in a wave of violent attacks targeting digital asset holders worldwide.

The Arouca resident was sitting in his car at a Superpharm car park on Trincity Central Road last Saturday evening when the robbery took place, according to a report by local media Trinidad and Tobago News Day.

He gave his two-year Belmont employee a black bag full of cash, money he wanted to use to buy crypto.

Moments after the money changed hands, two hooded figures with weapons appeared on both car windows, knocked on the glass and declared a robbery. The attackers then took both men’s money and phones before fleeing in a getaway vehicle.

Investigations are still ongoing. Declutter has contacted the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service for further comment.

Wrench attacks are on the rise worldwide

Jameson Lopp, co-founder and chief safety officer of Casa, a self-custody platform company, which maintains a database tracking such incidents, has more than 60 wrench attacks this year alone.

Recently in San Francisco, a man dressed as a deliveryman tied up a homeowner at gunpoint with duct tape and forced him to surrender. $11 million worth access to crypto wallet, phone and laptop.

Last month also saw one of the deadliest cases involving Russian crypto figure Roman Novak and his wife killed in UAE after agreeing to meet with so-called investors who forced them to unlock their crypto wallets.

“What starts as digital harassment increasingly manifests as physical violence,” says cybercrime consultant David Sehyeon Baek Declutternoting that there is now approximately one wrench attack worldwide.

He explained that attackers are also using blockchain analytics and AI-driven exploration to track movements and payout behavior in real time.

“These are not random crimes, but calculated, data-driven attacks,” he said. “The community must stop dismissing online threats as harmless trolling, because the line between the virtual and physical world has become dangerously thin.”