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

[Charles-Tim]

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.

Have you forgotten the last massive hack of Atomic wallet where over $100 million dollars was stolen from people? All that was done was to mix the coin using Sinbad that has now been taken down because of it. The best would have been to avoid such thing not to happen and also to have good privacy and security mindset and working towards it.

[robelneo]

There will be a lot of these in the future because Bitcoin will be the easiest asset to steal They don't need a big bag, they can easily transfer the assets from the victim to their wallet, Holders should be aware of this scenario and not boast about their assets in cryptocurrency because we never know who's lurking around to plan to steal those bitcoins.

[SamReomo]

Those heists happen because the criminals are also aware of the value and potential of Bitcoin and that's why they want to steal Bitcoin from the holders.

Those criminals who did the heist might have knowledge about the holdings of the Israeli tourists and that's why they came armed to loot the Bitcoin from those tourists.

[Baofeng]

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.

We really don't know that whole story though, maybe they have someone to meet their and exchange their Bitcoin, or they will buy something that expensive and they agree that they payment is going to be made thru Bitcoin.

And that's where the tip might have come, the person that they will deal in Costa Rica. For all we know, he could be part of those criminal group and that why there know what the supposedly tourist have in their crypto wallet.

[ABCbits]

--snip--
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.

It's good idea. But if amount of Bitcoin stored there is too little or have no recent transaction, it may rise suspicion from the thief. Besides, it's much better to bring smaller BTC in first place.

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.

Paid something with BTC sounds possible to me, since some people call Costa Rica as Crypto Haven and some places there also accept Bitcoin.

[Kemarit]

Those heists happen because the criminals are also aware of the value and potential of Bitcoin and that's why they want to steal Bitcoin from the holders.

They already know how valuable crypto is, as we have seen a rise on this physical attacks. But this is one of the worst that we have heard as they are tourist and with how the criminals execute everything, it's really very scary out there.

Those criminals who did the heist might have knowledge about the holdings of the Israeli tourists and that's why they came armed to loot the Bitcoin from those tourists.

For sure, they wouldn't be this precise on their action and it's like in movies, but this time it's real life and I really don't know what those tourist are undergoing right now as they could have been traumatized by this experienced. And probably this is also a lesson to us who wants to travel and carrying our wallets with Bitcoin it in. Or not to trust anyone that we are going to meet outside of our country.

[TomPluz]

There will be a lot of these in the future because Bitcoin will be the easiest asset to steal They don't need a big bag, they can easily transfer the assets from the victim to their wallet, Holders should be aware of this scenario and not boast about their assets in cryptocurrency because we never know who's lurking around to plan to steal those bitcoins.

Yes, seems to be true that Bitcoin can be one of the easiest to steal because they can be transferred digitally but thieves need the information that you got some Bitcoin before they would pursue you and that is why privacy is always important...never tell anyone that you got some sizeable worth of Bitcoin worthy of an operation. Unfortunately, people these days are not really careful especially with the use of social media in fact we are used to be bragging that we got this and that coin for the whole world to be jealous of. Security must be our paramount concern all the time. I am happy to report that I don't have a lot of Bitcoin and that it can be a big waste of time for any thief to come after me.

[Lucius]

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.
~snip~

After all, they would certainly wish they had "lost" only $60k, and I don't know where you got that number from when the title of this topic clearly states as much as $700k - which is $700,000

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.

Paid something with BTC sounds possible to me, since some people call Costa Rica as Crypto Haven and some places there also accept Bitcoin.

It only makes sense if they used the main wallet, so the seller could see how much actually ended up at the change address - and if that were the case, then those Israelis really had no idea about some basic things. Honestly, I have never heard that Costa Rica was mentioned in that context, but maybe I missed it considering that El Salvador stole all the attention. Perhaps it would have been wiser if the tourists had gone to that country, given that the president locked up all the criminals in prisons

[ZAINmalik75]

How do robbers know these tourists have BTC and even if it's not a big deal for robbers to know the tourists have BTC how they can know the BTC tourists have are worthy enough to rob? $700,000 is not a small amount. If none of the tourists make vlogs and share constant updates about their lives on social media then it's the work of some insider.

There are always some fake friends in your groups who jealous of you and the success you have. It is not possible for robbers alone to identify the place, tourists, and that they have a substantial amount of BTC too. We should always keep our BTC assets hidden and should not show them to the world.

[Captain Corporate]

I never understood these crypto crimes, like how the hell do people know how much crypto you have and how are they stealing it? Like put it on some ledge hardware and then put it at home and just do whatever you want? If anyone wants to steal it, they would have to come into your home, and not only that but they would have to crack a hardware wallet which is nearly impossible, so they would have to force you as well. So they need you and your ledge and be at your home all at the same time, which would have prevented this situation.

[Z-tight]

I never understood these crypto crimes, like how the hell do people know how much crypto you have and how are they stealing it?

It could be inside jobs, it could be that the person talks too much and has told so many people about how rich they are in crypto, it could also be the person spends crypto in their local store with their address that stores a large amount in BTC, etc, there are so many iterations, it can be any of them and more options too.

and not only that but they would have to crack a hardware wallet which is nearly impossible, so they would have to force you as well. So they need you and your ledge and be at your home all at the same time, which would have prevented this situation.

If they do their homework well, they'll get the person and their hardware wallet at home, but they wouldn't have to crack the hardware wallet, they would torture the victim into opening it, which they will.

[Jating]

I never understood these crypto crimes, like how the hell do people know how much crypto you have and how are they stealing it? Like put it on some ledge hardware and then put it at home and just do whatever you want? If anyone wants to steal it, they would have to come into your home, and not only that but they would have to crack a hardware wallet which is nearly impossible, so they would have to force you as well. So they need you and your ledge and be at your home all at the same time, which would have prevented this situation.

Haven't you heard of the $5 wrench attack? It's very easy for this criminals to execute if they found out that you have a lot of bitcoin and hiding it somewhere at home. They can just attack you and force you at gun point to go to your ledger and then transfer the funds to the wallet that the criminals has control of. And that is the why the first rule of thumb is not to let anyone knows that you have amassed a lot of bitcoin as there are a big possibility that this criminals might target you.

[NotATether]

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.

If you're in America? Buy an AR-15 style rifle, and keep a few rounds in your pocket. That won't deter heavily-armed people like that, but you could put up a fight if you had multiple of them.

If not, then I guess always keep a pistol in your pocket.

[Z-tight]

If you're in America? Buy an AR-15 style rifle, and keep a few rounds in your pocket. That won't deter heavily-armed people like that, but you could put up a fight if you had multiple of them.

If the criminals are certain that you have a lot of BTC's before attacking you, they would surely prepare for your resistance, even if you are armed, they will surely overpower you. But thinking about it, it could put them off because they would not want to kill you, because killing you in a shootout would mean they never get your coins, so it would make things really difficult for the criminals, except they kidnap you away from home and whisk you back home.

[ABCbits]

If you're in America? Buy an AR-15 style rifle, and keep a few rounds in your pocket. That won't deter heavily-armed people like that, but you could put up a fight if you had multiple of them.

If the criminals are certain that you have a lot of BTC's before attacking you, they would surely prepare for your resistance, even if you are armed, they will surely overpower you. But thinking about it, it could put them off because they would not want to kill you, because killing you in a shootout would mean they never get your coins, so it would make things really difficult for the criminals, except they kidnap you away from home and whisk you back home.

But if they have decent computer or Bitcoin knowledge, they could try finding written mnemonic words or brute-force wallet on your electronic device.