The Crypto Thief Who Stole $42,000

According to Bleeping Computers, a 24-year-old guy was sentenced to five years in jail for stealing crypto worth $41,900 after threatening to cut off the victim’s fingers if they failed to comply with his request.

The verdict was handed out on May 11 at London’s Crown Court in Southwark. Authorities said the defendant, Karim Hassan, used the instant messaging app Snapchat to target people who wanted to convert their cryptocurrency to cash through peer-to-peer exchanges rather than utilizing an authorized crypto exchange.

Hassan persuaded his victims to meet him in his black Audi A6 automobile, where he forced them to hand up their phones. According to officials, the 24-year-old felon used excessive force against anyone who refused to cooperate.

The criminal threatened to knife the victims in the neck if they didn’t comply, referring to himself as a killer. He also attacked victims and threatened to slice off their fingers “one by one” at other instances.

After being held at gunpoint in the automobile, one of the victims, Zain Hankin, stated he lost a total of £20,000 ($24,600) in cryptocurrency. After being threatened with a pocket knife, another victim, Abbas Mamuod, gave the inmate over £10,000 ($12,300).

Another victim, Abdullahi Goloid, said he was driven to an underground parking lot and manhandled by Hassen and his group, who threatened to rape, strip, and tie him up if he didn’t surrender his monies.

Goloid had previously remembered Hassen’s car number, which he reported to the police, and the crooks took nearly £2,500 ($3,000) from him. Police captured him driving the identical automobile Goloid described shortly after the crime.

In the United Kingdom, there has been a fresh wave of cryptocurrency mugging. Last week, UK police issued a public alert about the rising number of crypto thefts on London’s streets, claiming that numerous victims had already lost hundreds of pounds in cryptocurrency.

Crypto muggers take crypto investors’ phones from strategic locations across the city and transfer monies held in their digital wallets.

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