Online crypto scams and ponzi schemes leveraging social media platforms are hardly anything new.
BleepingComputer has previously reported on crypto thieves abusing Instagram for running ‘investment’ scams that people could and have fallen for.
But, this gruesome case of a London-based crypto robber transcends the virtual realm and tells a shocking tale of real-life victims who were coerced into paying £34,000 in total to the perpetrator.
Editor’s note: some readers may find the content of this report distressing but emerging crypto robberies like the one outlined below prompted BleepingComputer to report on this case, to caution everyone.
21-year-old crypto thief gets five years in jail
On Wednesday, May 11th, The Crown Court at Southwark in London sentenced 21-year-old Karim Hassan to five years in prison for pulling off multiple crypto robberies and making lethal threats to his victims, a source familiar with the specifics of the case has told BleepingComputer.
Hassan, a resident of London’s Maida Vale district would use Snapchat to anonymously interact with customers looking to exchange their cryptocurrency for cash in person.
To carry out these off-the-books transactions, Hassan would ask customers to meet him in his black Audi A6.
Once in the backseat of his car, customers were asked to hand over their phones and digital wallets containing Bitcoin and crypto-assets. Any hesitation or refusal on the person’s part would rapidly turn into an ugly…
