Odaily Planet Daily News: Cryptocurrency traders are increasingly becoming targets of kidnapping and extortion, as highlighted by several cases reported in recent weeks. According to local French media France Bleu Normandie, French police have rescued a man who was tied up in the trunk of a car in Le Mans after kidnappers demanded ransom from his son, a cryptocurrency KOL living in Dubai. The incident occurred on the evening of January 1st, when Le Mans police intercepted a stolen vehicle at a gas station. After opening the trunk, they found a 56 year old man covered in gasoline. The victim said that the masked attacker broke into his home on New Year's Eve, kidnapped him and his wife, and transported him to a country nearly 500 kilometers away. The kidnappers used an encrypted network to demand ransom from his son. In Pakistan, on January 3rd, seven people, including an anti-terrorism department official, were arrested for kidnapping a local cryptocurrency trader. The victim Mohammed Arsalan was kidnapped on December 25th in Manhopil, Karachi. According to reports, the kidnappers forced him to transfer $340000 through his Binance account and then abandoned him near the tomb of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The perpetrator successfully escaped from the scene, and the investigation is still ongoing. In December, a 24-year-old woman named Catherine Colivas kidnapped a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family with the help of three accomplices and threatened to cut off his finger, forcing him to pay $40000 in Bitcoin. Although the woman has confessed, she has not been imprisoned. Catherine Colivas faces up to 25 years in prison at a hearing in Victoria, Australia. She pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, extortion, reckless injury, theft, and possession of a firearm. However, the judge cited her age, growth difficulties, mental health status, rehabilitation prospects, and her brother's death while waiting for trial as reasons for sentencing, stating that her "special circumstances" and receiving 30 months of community service were sufficient. Meanwhile, Toronto police are still investigating the kidnapping of Dean Skurka, CEO of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange WonderFi. According to CBC News, Skurka was kidnapped during peak hours on November 6th in downtown Toronto and was released after paying a ransom of $1 million electronically. According to data from blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, ransomware groups extorted over $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency from victims in 2023. （Cointelegraph）
