Ukrainian crypto holder targeted in $250,000 raid in Thailand

A Ukrainian man has fallen victim to a targeted crypto attack after he was forced to hand over 250,000 USDT. 

As reported by local outlet Bangkok Post, 23-year-old Viacheslav Leibov was robbed on the tourist island Phuket after he was lured to a hotel room under false pretenses. 

He is said to have joined his friend and compatriot Alfred Chernyshuk in the room, then on entry he met another man identified as Armenian national, Arman Grigoryan. 

After some time, Leibov moved to use the bathroom where he was confronted by two masked men who launched the latest ‘$5 wrench attack’ on a substantial crypto holder. 

The pair of assailants tied up Leibov’s limbs and threatened to smash his fingers, with one of them brandishing a long knife and Grigoryan holding a hammer, unless he complied to transfer 500,000 of the Tether stablecoin to a specific wallet.   

The victim detailed how he asked to halve the amount and proceeded to transfer 250,000 USDT to the requested wallet, then he was tied to a bed and warned not to report the incident.

After he eventually freed himself, Leibov raised the alarm with hotel staff and immediately set off to catch the assailants at the airport to no avail. At this point, he reported the alleged robbery to the police. 

The $5 wrench attack is named as such due to the primitive nature of the situation. It is an unsophisticated threat of force and harm to conduct a crypto theft and this Phuket incident is the latest in an ongoing trend. 

Just last week, ahead of Ethereum’s Devcon conference in the capital Bangkok, Rooch Network co-founder Haichao Zhu reported a knifepoint robbery. In Canada last Wednesday, WonderFi Technologies CEO Dean Sekura was kidnapped and held for a ransom of $CAD 1 million ($720,000).

In late October, Thai immigration authorities also uncovered a cross-border crypto scam that defrauded a local woman of more than $620,000.

Image credit: Via Midjourney

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