A Ukrainian man has become the latest crypto holder to fall victim to a “$5 hack attack” after being robbed of USDT 250,000.
According to a recent report by local English-language news outlet Bangkok Post, 23-year-old Vyacheslav Leibov invited his 18-year-old Ukrainian friend Alfred Chernyshuk to a hotel room on Friday. After Leibov entered the room, he met an Armenian man named Arman Grigorian and brought him in and talked to him on the balcony.
The alleged crime took place when the victim decided to use the toilet and found two men waiting with their faces covered. The pair tied his legs with rope and cable ties and ordered him to hand over 500,000. A stable coin USDT to a specific wallet – otherwise you will break your fingers. Gregorian held a hammer, one of the masked men had a long knife in his hand.
LeBov demanded that the gang halve the amount demanded and revealed that 250,000 USDT were moved around in the wallets of the suspected robbers. He was then tied to his bed and warned not to report the crime. The alleged criminals gathered their belongings and left the room.
Leibov said he was finally able to free himself and speak to the hotel staff, who said the room was rented in the names of Chernyshuk and Grigoryan. He then immediately went to the airport to look for the attackers, but was unable to find anyone before reporting the incident to the police.
Crypto heists are on the rise.
The news follows a similar robbery in Thailand a week ago. Rook Network founder Haichao Zhu recently reported that he was robbed at knifepoint by two assailants in Bangkok, just days before the Ethereum Devcon conference.
Violent attacks against popular crypto holders have recently occurred in other countries as well. In Canada, Toronto-based crypto executive Dean Skurka of WonderFi Technologies was kidnapped in the city on Wednesday evening and held for a $1 million ($720,000) ransom.
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