Wrench Attack

UK

2026-10-03 10:17:09

Masked intruders in Solihull forced UK husband to transfer crypto during 45-minute assault

A couple in Solihull, UK, were attacked in their home last December by three masked men in what BBC described as a "wrench attack" targeting a crypto holder. The husband, identified under the pseudonym James, said he was repeatedly struck in the head and ribs with a hammer, while his wife, who was seven months pregnant at the time, was pinned to a sofa and had a pillow pressed over her face. The attackers threatened to stab his wife and kill their unborn baby unless he transferred cryptocurrency worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. James said he was forced to move his crypto savings to a wallet controlled by people directing the assailants remotely. The intruders also stole several Rolex watches before fleeing by car. Police are investigating, and the charity Crimestoppers has offered a £10,000 reward for information. The baby has since been born at full term, and both mother and child are safe.

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France

2026-09-21 09:56:33

French crypto IT worker forced to hand over access codes after home invasion, €40,000 in crypto stolen

A family in Vendin-le-Vieil, a town in northern France, was held hostage early Sunday after four masked men broke into their home, according to a report cited by ChainCatcher from BFMTV. The attackers entered at around 4 a.m., tied up a couple and their two children with tape, and kept them restrained for more than three hours. The 40-year-old father, who works as an IT specialist in the local crypto sector, was taken into another room, beaten, and forced to provide access codes. Roughly €40,000, or about $46,000, in cryptocurrency was then transferred out. The Béthune prosecutor’s office said the four suspects fled by car and remain at large. The family’s 12-year-old daughter was struck in the face with a car key during the attack. The victims were reported to be in shock, taken for forensic examination, and given support through a victims’ assistance association. Authorities have opened a case for kidnapping and extortion by an organized gang, with the regional judicial police and France’s cybercrime office leading the investigation. The report also placed the case in a broader pattern of so-called wrench attacks in France. The national office for combating organized crime has recorded more than 70 crypto-linked kidnappings and unlawful detentions in the first eight months of 2026, while 88 people were charged in an earlier crackdown this year.

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Mexico

2026-09-08 12:51:48

Two suspects arrested in Mexico in killings tied to alleged Bitcoin cold wallet

Authorities in the State of Mexico have arrested two suspects, Diego Sebastián and Gerardo, in a case tied to the killing of Camilo Séptimo keyboardist Jonathan Meléndez, his pregnant wife, their daughter, and an employee, according to a report cited by Cointelegraph. Prosecutors said the crime was allegedly carried out to obtain a cold wallet said to contain millions of dollars in Bitcoin. The family’s golden retriever was also killed. One of the suspects was described as the victim’s business partner and allegedly used that relationship to gain entry to the home. The two suspects are due to appear in court on Wednesday, when a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to move the criminal case forward. If convicted, each victim could carry a sentence of 25 to 70 years. The report also pointed to a broader rise in violent robberies targeting crypto holders, commonly known as wrench attacks, citing data from CertiK and Chainalysis.

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Trezor

2026-09-05 08:07:58

Trezor says ShipMonk breach exposed about 80,700 customer records, not private keys

Trezor said on Sept. 4 that a data breach tied to logistics partner ShipMonk was much larger than first disclosed, with another 67,000 U.S. customers affected and the total reaching about 80,700 people. The leaked data includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and order numbers, while some customers had only partial information exposed. Trezor said its own systems, hardware wallets, private keys, wallet backups, seed backups, and device data were not affected. The distinction matters because the breach did not expose wallet contents, but it did reveal who bought hardware wallets and where they live. That leaves customers open to targeted phishing, extortion, theft, and other real-world threats. Trezor said the newly identified records came from orders placed between November 2019 and August 2021 and should have been deleted. The company said it had repeatedly requested deletion under its contract and data policies and had received written confirmation, but the records remained in ShipMonk’s systems. Trezor is now preparing an anonymous shipping option, including a dedicated checkout flow, locker pickup, neutral packaging, generic sender information, and automatic deletion of shipping identifiers after delivery. The feature is expected in the EU in September 2026 and in the U.S. by year-end, though it will not undo the leak of the roughly 80,000 records already exposed.

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France

2026-08-21 03:08:54

French couple abducted after attackers demanded Bitcoin in Landes case

A couple in Rion-des-Landes, in France’s Landes department, was attacked at home late on Aug. 10 and forced to hand over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies before being taken away, according to local outlet actu.fr. The man was later found naked and injured in nearby Solférino, while the woman was rescued from a car several kilometers away in another department. French gendarmes launched a large-scale roadblock operation after the attack and have arrested two suspects, though authorities have not said whether the assailants actually obtained the crypto assets they demanded. The case has added to mounting concern over crypto-linked kidnappings in France. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said France has recorded 77 cases tied to the crypto sector in 2026 so far, including kidnappings, unlawful confinement and extortion attempts, compared with 45 for all of 2025. Authorities say attackers often rely on leaked address data from exchanges or service providers and that many suspects are young local recruits. The report also pointed to earlier incidents involving The Sandbox co-founder Sébastien Borget’s wife and a Paris couple forced at knifepoint to transfer more than $1 million in BTC.

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France

2026-08-15 04:49:21

French tax breach exposing 678,437 records raises wrench attack fears in crypto

A data breach at France’s tax authority has raised concerns in the crypto sector over the risk of so-called wrench attacks, where victims are forced through violence or kidnapping to hand over private keys. According to The Block, the incident exposed 678,437 records covering both individuals and businesses after attackers used stolen VPN credentials to access systems run by the French Directorate General of Public Finances, or DGFiP, in late June. The leaked data included names, birth details, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, income figures, tax identification numbers, withholding tax rates and family status. The exposed dataset also singled out high earners, including 26,800 people reporting more than €116,000 in annual income, 386 above €1.16 million and eight above €11.6 million. DGFiP has confirmed the intrusion and said the scope of the impact remains under investigation. For crypto holders, the concern is physical targeting rather than ordinary phishing. With verified identity and income information, criminals could build more convincing scams and identify wealthier targets with greater precision. The report cited earlier figures from Chainalysis and CertiK showing France has recorded a high number of wrench attack cases this year.

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France

2026-08-14 22:39:49

French tax data breach affecting about 678,437 raises security concerns for crypto holders

France’s finance minister has confirmed that hackers breached the system of the country’s public finance directorate in late June and stole taxpayer data covering both individuals and businesses. FrenchBreaches, a platform that tracks cyberattacks in France, said the incident affected about 678,437 people, or roughly 1% of the country’s population, while noting that the final figure is still under investigation. The exposed records reportedly include names, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, tax identification details and income data. The reported dataset also contains a notable number of higher-income profiles: nearly 27,000 people with taxable income of at least 100,000 euros, 386 above 1 million euros, and eight above 10 million euros. According to the report, the database has been offered for sale on a dark web marketplace for several thousand euros. The attacker, using the name ZeroBytes, claimed to have extracted the records through an internal search tool before access was discovered and cut off. The leak has drawn attention in the crypto sector because violent "wrench attack" robberies targeting crypto holders have increased in France in recent years.

1270

Harry Yeh

2026-08-10 05:41:00

Crypto fund founder Harry Yeh dies in Paraguay fall as prosecutors probe accident, suicide, and homicide

Harry Chun Tak Yeh, also known as Harry Yeh and identified in Chinese reports as Ye Junde, was found dead in the early hours of Aug. 7 in Asunción, Paraguay, after an apparent fall from the 30th floor of the Jade Park apartment tower in the Trinidad district. Yeh was the founder and managing partner of Quantum Fintech Group, a crypto investment firm he said oversaw more than $2.4 billion in assets. Police found his body naked and covered with a black plastic bag, while investigators later reported that the door to his 30th-floor apartment was open and the inside had been ransacked. Prosecutor María del Carmen Palazón said authorities are examining three possibilities at the same time: accident, suicide, and homicide. The case has drawn heavy attention in crypto circles because of the scene details and Yeh’s public profile. Community discussion quickly turned to the possibility of a so-called wrench attack, a violent robbery aimed at forcing crypto holders to surrender wallet access, private keys, or funds. Chainalysis said in a report published on Aug. 6 that 46 confirmed wrench attacks against crypto holders were recorded globally in the first half of 2026, with more than $30 million stolen. If attempted transfers and extortion demands are included, year-to-date exposure was close to $107 million. Even so, Paraguayan authorities have not publicly tied Yeh’s death to any suspect or to a specific motive, and the autopsy remains central to the investigation.

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