An immediate probe has been initiated following an incident where a couple was held captive in their residence by individuals posing as police officers and coerced to transfer £800,000 in Bitcoin. The victims, a couple in their late 50s, were targeted in a suburban area of Paris and threatened with a knife by three men disguised in fake police uniforms.
According to reports from French media, the perpetrators falsely identified themselves as law enforcement officers conducting a raid before forcibly entering the property. The husband was then menaced with a knife and instructed to transfer €900,000 (£778,000) worth of Bitcoin to a different digital currency wallet.
Following the transfer, the suspects physically assaulted the couple, restrained the husband, and absconded in a white van. Once the assailants departed, the woman managed to free her husband and sought help from neighbors, who contacted the authorities.
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident that occurred in Yvelines on Monday. Prosecutors in Versailles have assigned the case to the Banditry Repression Brigade, a specialized unit within the French police responsible for tackling organized crime, often referred to as ‘antigang’.
This incident is part of a concerning trend targeting affluent cryptocurrency users, with instances of ‘wrench attacks’ rising by 75% globally last year, totaling 72 confirmed cases. France accounted for the highest number of incidents at 19, with Europe contributing approximately 40% of all reported cases.
In a separate incident in 2025, David Balland, co-founder of the cryptocurrency wallet startup Ledger, was kidnapped and held for ransom along with his wife for two days in Paris by individuals wearing balaclavas. The perpetrators mutilated Mr. Balland, demanding payment for his release, before a police operation led to his rescue.
Recently, six individuals were apprehended after a 36-year-old court magistrate and her 67-year-old mother were abducted for nearly 30 hours in a ransom scheme. The kidnappers demanded cryptocurrency as ransom, threatening harm if their demands were not met. The victims managed to free themselves and alert authorities, leading to the arrests of four men, one woman, and a child, including two individuals attempting to flee to Spain.