Israeli Tourists Robbed of $700K in Costa Rica Bitcoin Heist

[TomPluz]

A group of eleven Israeli tourists was violently robbed while attending a social event on Santa Teresa de Cóbano beach in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The robbers, numbering at least eight, were heavily armed and appeared to have police training. They arrived in two high-value vehicles and overpowered the group’s security guard, forcing the tourists to hand over their belongings, including a substantial amount of Bitcoin, worth approximately $700,000.

This incident is reminiscent of a similar crime in Kyiv, Ukraine, where four men were detained for the abduction and murder of a foreigner over nearly 3 Bitcoin. The criminals in that case followed the victim home, forced him to transfer the Bitcoin, and then murdered him, burying the body in a forest.

These incidents highlight the increasing risks faced by crypto holders as criminals become more sophisticated in targeting individuals with large amounts of digital assets.

More of this Bitcoin heist development here.


This Bitcoin heist story highlights one of the many risks involved with getting into cryptocurrency and is telling us the message how to be security conscious all the time. remember that even if we are not actually bringing Bitcoin in our own literal pockets, we can be forced to transfer our Bitcoin into someone's else wallet at the point of the gun or even just a knife when our very own lives can be endangered. Related to this, privacy should be exercised at all times...never allow anyone nor the public know that you have Bitcoin not unless you have your security details following you all the time like those famous Bitcoiners on the news.

Please share here the many good tips and ideas we can use to avoid getting another victim of a heist, aside from not owning any coin or token, of course.

[Kemarit]

Please share here the many good tips and ideas we can use to avoid getting another victim of a heist, aside from not owning any coin or token, of course.

Of course we need to be very careful when we go out, and not sure why this people have been carrying their Bitcoin, perhaps in their mobile phone, USB or hardware wallet. But the criminals themselves knows what they are carrying and it seems that they could have been tip by someone who know that this guys are coming over with large amount of Bitcoin. Even their security can't do anything about it as it seems that the criminals are well trained and there are angles being looked up as they are either police or military because of the precision on how they carried out this crimes. So there's nothing you can do in this situation as this crimes looks to be inside job.

[Charles-Tim]

They are Israeli tourists attending a social event on Santa Teresa de Cóbano beach in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. How did the attackers know that the Israeli tourists have bitcoin? This will give answers to your question.

Privacy is very important.

[ABCbits]

Please share here the many good tips and ideas we can use to avoid getting another victim of a heist, aside from not owning any coin or token, of course.

For tips related with the news, do some research about place you're going to visit. For example,  i use search keyword "crime in costa rica" which shows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Costa_Rica on 2nd place, where Wikipedia specifically mention "Crimes targeting tourists".

They are Israeli tourists attending a social event on Santa Teresa de Cóbano beach in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. How did the attackers know that the Israeli tourists have bitcoin? This will give answers to your question.

Privacy is very important.

It also bring question why the victim "bring" Bitcoin worth $700K with him, regardless how exactly it's stored.

[TravelMug]

There were video's circulating around the internet about the robbery,



Only consolation is that they were not killed by this gangs, unfortunately, they've lost the money already. And I do agree, this is the very example of somewhat setting this tourists to get robbed there.

[Zed0X]

An inside job is one of the angles the authorities are looking at. It's also possible that any of these tourists used their wallet to pay in BTC in one of the stores in Costa Rica and the staff or other customers might have noticed it. This is one of the issues of bitcoin becoming mainstream because you don't have the same privacy when you pay in public or withdraw in crypto ATMs.

[Charles-Tim]

They are Israeli tourists attending a social event on Santa Teresa de Cóbano beach in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. How did the attackers know that the Israeli tourists have bitcoin? This will give answers to your question.

Privacy is very important.

It also bring question why the victim "bring" Bitcoin worth $700K with him, regardless how exactly it's stored.

I suppose to add security. I meant that also. Likely the wallet might be on their mobile phones. It is easily for the attackers to place the victims fingers on the phone and also maybe they use fingerprint for the wallet while not also hide the app. So far the attackers well known about cryptocurrencies, there is nothing needed again to steal the coins on the wallet than the victims fingers.

That is why I like wallet like Unstoppable. Also I think I have seen it on Bluewallet before. A way you can use your fingerprint or another password that will take you to a different wallet which you can fund with just little amount of coins. I am certain it is on Unstoppable wallet. But I can not have such huge amount on an online wallet.

[Lucius]

The biggest question is why would someone carry 10+ BTC with them if they are also going to a country known for crime? Maybe this happened because one of them posted something on social networks, and maybe they really paid something with BTC in that country and thus drew attention to themselves.

However, there is another option that should not be ignored, and that is that one of the "friends" knew about all this money and decided to use this trip to rob a friend - and when it comes to so much money, nothing should be surprising.

The next time you want to tell someone that you own cryptocurrencies, remember what kind of risk you are putting yourself in, such things are not discussed with friends and acquaintances.

[MrSpasybo]

The biggest question is why would someone carry 10+ BTC with them if they are also going to a country known for crime? Maybe this happened because one of them posted something on social networks, and maybe they really paid something with BTC in that country and thus drew attention to themselves.

However, there is another option that should not be ignored, and that is that one of the "friends" knew about all this money and decided to use this trip to rob a friend - and when it comes to so much money, nothing should be surprising.

The next time you want to tell someone that you own cryptocurrencies, remember what kind of risk you are putting yourself in, such things are not discussed with friends and acquaintances.

I also believe that the victim unintentionally shared with someone the secret about the huge fortune of nearly $1M that he was storing in BTC, and this led to disaster for him and his family. This should be a lesson for everyone who is storing a lot of assets in any form, whether it's gold, cash, or crypto: we should keep it secret to protect our own lives, just like a treasure is always kept in a secret place, in a locked chest.

We often hear about robberies or kidnappings to seize crypto assets, meaning that crypto investors have become targets of crime. Besides a hardware wallet, I think large investors should also have bodyguards, a solid house, and many weapons to protect themselves and their families ^^

[Husires]

A tourist travels with about $60,000 to visit Costa Rica, which is a poor country, and $10,000 is enough to spend a pleasant vacation. This does not make sense, and the best explanation is that they went for a purpose other than tourism, and perhaps some of the deals they made are what made this gang know that they have a lot of bitcoin and then attacked them.

[electronicash]

A tourist travels with about $60,000 to visit Costa Rica, which is a poor country, and $10,000 is enough to spend a pleasant vacation. This does not make sense, and the best explanation is that they went for a purpose other than tourism, and perhaps some of the deals they made are what made this gang know that they have a lot of bitcoin and then attacked them.

either that or someone knew they have BTC even before they arrived in the country. they couldn't just be careless in talking about BTC and making anyone learn you have some of BTC. the sad part of getting robbed with your BTC is that even if authorities caught these suspects, they may never get the amount back especially if its sent to a private wallet as well.

sharing posts about crypto in social media can be a very telling for those robbers that its a sign this someone has BTC or any other valuable crypto in their portfolio.  some tip i found was that do not wear shirt with logo of crypto. a sticker on your car or any of your property might just be a $ for them.

[Stompix]

That is why I like wallet like Unstoppable. Also I think I have seen it on Bluewallet before. A way you can use your fingerprint or another password that will take you to a different wallet which you can fund with just little amount of coins. I am certain it is on Unstoppable wallet. But I can not have such huge amount on an online wallet.

If it was an inside job such a trick won't help you, it will just give them the reason to break a few more fingers and in 5 seconds you'll remember all the wallets and the private you have used in your life. It might work with somebody who is robbing you randomly and knows to check balances but not with someone who has a tip on how much you own.

The biggest question is why would someone carry 10+ BTC with them if they are also going to a country known for crime?

According to the news, "arrived in two high-value vehicles and overpowered the group’s security guard", so they had a private security guard for their group, which could mean that they probably had even more money on them than the gang could have not touched such as cards or bank accounts.
Plus there were 11 of them, this is shady as f%^!

[Husires]

sharing posts about crypto in social media can be a very telling for those robbers that its a sign this someone has BTC or any other valuable crypto in their portfolio.  some tip i found was that do not wear shirt with logo of crypto. a sticker on your car or any of your property might just be a $ for them.

I don't think so, cryptocurrencies may have been part of a business deal that was made and something happened that led to this tragic accident. No matter how much I love cryptocurrencies, I would not travel to Costa Rica with a wallet containing 1 Bitcoin.

[target]

Such crime is getting common already, this one looks like they ambush one gang while the other gang flee giving up the tourist they should be protecting.  Someone must have rat they have large amount of BTC.

But sad feeling when bad guys succeed on thier heist. I think the BTC can be tagged right?  Lawmakers love these kind of news where they can make regulations.

[Z-tight]

It could be an inside job, maybe someone who knows them tipped off these robbers, it is a sad event. The news said these tourists had their own security guards, but somehow the robbers had to come with more force and firepower to overpower them, looks like an inside job to me.

If it was an inside job, then the only mistake they made was carrying this sort of amount on a trip, it should have been safely stored in their hardware wallets back at home.