Whenever the crypto market is booming and price surge topics are rampant, a bunch of "teachers" will seize the opportunity to appear and start teaching everyone how to follow orders, show orders, and report orders. Not only do they add users to groups, but they also use fake accounts and fake conversations, combined with an "order report generator", making you mistakenly believe everyone is making a fortune, causing you to FOMO and shout: "Why didn't I follow along!" Ultimately, you are unknowingly scammed.
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ToggleMarket Looks Bullish, Order Reporting Groups Become Active
Starting from the end of 2024, after Trump voiced support for the crypto industry before the US presidential election, the prices of mainstream cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH significantly rebounded, and investment sentiment warmed up.
Amid the optimistic market atmosphere, social platforms and communication apps like FB, IG, LINE, and Telegram began to be flooded with order showing and reporting groups, promoting:
"Teacher will help you earn passively", "One-on-one teaching", "Low risk, high profit".
In these groups, you'll see many people posting deposit and withdrawal screenshots and profit orders, making it hard not to be tempted. However, in reality, these images are mostly fake, and even generated with a single click.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach]ToggleNovember 2024: Just Returned Home and Held at Gunpoint
The incident occurred in November 2024. The victim had just finished hosting a crypto event in downtown Las Vegas and was preparing to rest at home.
As soon as he entered the door, he was ambushed by three teenagers at gunpoint and forced into a car, driven to a remote desert area an hour outside the city.
Threatened in the Desert to Reveal Password: "Your Father is in Our Hands"
After taking the victim to a remote location, the three teenagers threatened him, saying: "Reveal the password if you want to live."
They even threatened him, saying: "Your father is in our hands, and we'll kill him if you don't cooperate." There was a phone on speakerphone at the scene, suggesting a fourth person was remotely directing the operation.
After Crypto Wallet is Emptied, Walking 5 Miles Barefoot for Help
After the victim revealed the password, the crypto assets and Non-Fungible Tokens worth $4 million were instantly stolen. He was then abandoned in the desert, and the victim ultimately walked nearly 8 kilometers barefoot, finally reaching a gas station where he contacted a friend for help and called the police.
Two 16-Year-Old Suspects Arrested, One Escaped Abroad
Currently, two 16-year-old teenagers from Florida have been arrested by the police, with charges including kidnapping, robbery, and extortion. Here is the current status of the three individuals:
- One is currently in custody with a bail set at $4 million.
- Another is under electronic ankle monitoring and temporarily placed at home.
- The third suspect is suspected to have fled the United States, and their whereabouts are being investigated.
All three will be tried as adults, with the preliminary hearing expected to be held in June 2025.
Crypto Robbery Cases Increasing Annually
Digital asset lawyer Sasha Hodder also commented on 5/10 that current crypto theft cases have escalated from social engineering attacks or SIM card kidnappings to direct offline violent extortion. This is just the tip of the iceberg of global crypto robberies.
According to the tracking list established by Casa crypto security company co-founder Jameson Lopp on GitHub, the global offline crypto robbery data is as follows:
2021: 32 cases
2023: 17 cases
2024: 28 cases
2025 (up to now): 21 cases
Besides the United States, a kidnapping incident occurred in Paris, France in early May 2025, where a crypto entrepreneur's father was kidnapped for several days until police intervention. The kidnappers demanded $7.8 million. In February 2025, a crypto professional in the UK even jumped from a 9-meter high balcony to escape.
Cold Wallet Can't Save You, "Personal Protection" is the Real Key
Such cases remind all crypto asset holders that they cannot rely solely on cold wallets or seed phrases to save themselves.
In the future, when you have accumulated a certain amount of wealth, the real risk may come from real-world threats. Therefore, learning how to protect yourself is the key.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries high risks, and its price may fluctuate dramatically. You may lose all your principal. Please carefully assess the risks.
