A Chinese student who was kidnapped in Australia and held for ransom has been safely released after the family paid a hefty amount in SegWitCoin (BTC) as ransom. The 22-year-old Ye Jingwang was abducted on August 23 and was released after his parents paid 80 BTC, worth $841,700 at press time. The Australian police are investigating the incident.
The kidnappers sent two separate videos to Ye’s father on August 24 and 26 depicting him tied up, blindfolded and bloodied, Chinese English outlet That’s reported. They then issued a stern message: “We have your son, if you don’t want him to have an accident, if you want him to return soon, then meet our demands.”
They demanded for 80 BTC, a sum of money that, at the time, Ye’s parents claimed they couldn’t afford.
However, according to the report, the 80 BTC ransom was paid and Ye is safe with his family in China. He sustained only a few minor injuries.
While thankful that Ye was unharmed, the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Australia issued a stern warning about the growing menace of fake kidnappings. In such cases, the scammer collaborates with a student, mostly international exchange students, who then ‘go missing’. The scammer reaches out to the parents of the student demanding a hefty ransom which he then splits with the student. To make the case more convincing, some of the scammers inflict some serious injuries on the student, film it and send it to the parents.
Two months ago, Moroccan police arrested three individuals who were involved in a kidnapping attempt. The two were planning on kidnapping their victim and force him to surrender access to his BTC wallet, as well as steal his fiat currency. The police were, however, aware of the plan and apprehended the two before they could see their plan to fruition.
In yet another BTC ransom case, Pakistani police arrested a gang of 7 which included three police officers. The gang had kidnapped a hostage and was demanding $140,000 in BTC as ransom before they were arrested. The police recovered thousands of dollars from the gang.
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