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The only difference between normal robbery and crypto robbery is the target. Typical thieves usually target victims based on their clothing and jewelry, the type of smartphone they use, the car they drive, and so on. However, crypto-criminals don’t care about all that; they are only interested in all the digital assets hidden in your crypto wallet.
Crypto crime is usually limited to the digital domain. Hackers and scammers use coding flaws, online social engineering schemes and technical know-how to trick their victims. However, with the increase in crypto adoption and the growing valuation of these digital assets, crypto-crime has also seeped into the physical realm. This has given rise to a new type of crypto theft, one that uses both physical muscle and digital know-how to steal crypto from unsuspecting individuals. These attacks are labeled as ‘crypto muggings’, and this article will quickly cover everything you need to know about this abuse.
What are crypto attacks?
The only difference between normal robbery and crypto robbery is the target. Typical thieves usually target victims based on their clothing and jewelry, the type of smartphone they use, the car they drive, and so on. However, crypto-criminals don’t care about all that; they are only interested in all the digital assets hidden in your crypto wallet.
Another difference is that instead of making off with your physical possessions, these criminals snatch the victim’s phone, unlock it, and transfer all of the victim’s crypto holdings to another wallet.
These crimes usually start with miscreants looking for wallet addresses with significant crypto holdings that can be traced back to real individuals.
Once they have determined the individual behind a crypto wallet, they can track the victim and plan the exploit. Most of these criminals are only interested in digital assets, but will also get away with any physical possessions that catch their eye.
How common are these crimes?
Crypto heists were relatively unheard of until the second half of 2021 when cryptocurrencies saw an astronomical rise in valuations. These crimes seem to have peaked in May this year when a wave of crypto robberies took place in London and other parts of the world. Several individuals were jumped in the street, forced to unlock their phones and access their crypto wallets so the miscreants could transfer their funds.
Since then, efforts to physically steal virtual digital assets have been on the rise. They even moved from street robbery to armed robbery, home invasion, torture and even kidnapping, all with the aim of siphoning crypto holdings.
Just a few days ago, three men were arrested in the UK in connection with a botched home invasion. The men tried to assault a local man and steal his virtual currencies.
In another incident from May, an individual was jumped near London’s Liverpool Street station and forced to hand over their phone. The gang stole £5,000 worth of ETH stored in a Coinbase wallet. A third victim reported that £10,000 worth of crypto was stolen from his crypto.com account. The victim said he was using his phone in the bar and believed thieves saw him typing his account pin.
How to protect yourself from crypto attacks?
The first set of precautions applies to general robberies: don’t venture into lonely alleys, choose well-lit streets at night, don’t associate with strangers, etc. However, to be doubly sure, it makes sense to take crypto precautions. well.
Experts suggest storing only small amounts of crypto on exchange wallets. So if such an incident were to happen, losses would remain minimal. Store all your assets in a cold (offline) wallet and place them in a safe and secure place, perhaps a hidden locker in your home.
Cyber security experts also suggest setting up a private space on your phone. Some smartphones have the option to set up different logins to hide certain apps, such as the PrivateSpace on Huawei smartphones.
“The applications in the PrivateSpace are different from the main programs that are actually used. So, if the users are robbed, they can enter the PrivateSpace and show that they have no crypto apps installed on their phone,” said cybersecurity experts from BlockSec in an interview with CoinTelegraph. Similar apps also exist on Samsung and Apple devices.
Closure
Crypto heists and other real-world exploits targeting digital assets are on the rise, but are few and far between. However, it still makes sense to be on your guard, especially if you have a large crypto holding to your name. Even if you have a modest amount of cryptocurrency, it still makes sense to go the extra mile to keep your holdings safe.
