Hvordan kryptokriminelle går fra at hacke børser til at målrette sig mod enkeltpersoner

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Kryptotyveri har en særlig form for grusomhed indbygget i sig. Selv når dine mønter er væk, kan du ofte stadigsedem bevæger sig – hop for hop – hen over den offentlige blockchain. Det er som at se din pung blive båret væk gennem en glaskorridor, du ikke har lov til at komme ind i.

En BBC-undersøgelse af kryptokriminalitet sætter konkrete tal og menneskelige historier på en tendens, der stille og roligt har ændret sig: Mens store hacking-angreb på kryptobørser stadig dominerer overskrifterne, vender flere kriminelle deres opmærksomhed mod individuelle investorer – ved hjælp af gammeldags svindel, lækkede data og i værste fald fysisk vold.

Hvorfor kryptotyveri føles anderledes end almindelig svindel

Inden for traditionel finans er den mest almindelige "lykkelige slutning" kedelig: en bank tilbagefører en overførsel, et kortselskab annullerer en betaling, eller et forsikringsselskab gør dig skadesløs. Krypto fungerer per design ikke sådan.

BBC-historien åbner med “Helen”, en britisk statsborger, der siger, at hun tabte sig omkring315.000 dollars (250.000 pund)i kryptovaluta. I årevis havde hun og hendes mand "Richard" (ikke hans rigtige navn) akkumuleretCardanoDe var ikke velhavende – hun arbejdede som personlig assistent, han som komponist – men de var metodiske med at spare op og troede, at aktivet kunne stige i værdi.

Så, iFebruar 2024, kriminelle fik adgang til encloud-lagringskontoder indeholdt oplysninger om deres tegnebøger og hvordan man kom ind. Efter en lille testtransaktion flyttede tyvene alle deres mønter til tegnebøger, de kontrollerede. Parret så i månedsvis til, mens deres penge blev flyttet videre, magtesløse.

Den hjælpeløshed er det psykologiske slag ved kryptotyveri: regnskabet er gennemsigtigt, men identiteten bag tegnebogen er det ofte ikke.

Omfanget: millioner af ejere, milliarder stjålet

Ejerskab af kryptovaluta er ikke længere en niche. BBC citerer enFCA-undersøgelse fra august 2024antyder omtrent12% af britiske voksnehavde ejet kryptoaktiver — ca.syv millioner menneskerGlobalt set anslår man, at kryptoejerskab er omkring560 millioner.

Med flere mennesker, der besidder krypto, er der mere værdi at stjæle. Blockchain-analysefirmaKædeanalyseanslår, at2025så samlede kryptotyverier afmere end 3,4 milliarder dollars (2,5 milliarder pund), et tal der har ligget på omtrent samme niveau siden 2020.

En betydelig andel af disse tab stammer fra store angreb på kryptovirksomheder. BBC nævner et af de største eksempler:Nordkoreanske hackere stjal 1,5 milliarder dollars (1,1 milliarder pund)fra kryptobørsenBybitiFebruar 2025.

Men historiens mere bekymrende ændring er, hvad der sker uden for udvekslingerne.

Skiftet mod at målrette individer

Chainalysis-forskning, som BBC citerer, tyder på, at angreb på individuelle investorer er steget: fra ca.40.000 i 2022til80.000 i 2025.

Chainalysis anslår, at hacking, svindel eller tvangsudøvelse af enkeltpersoner tegnede sig for omkring20% af al kryptoværdi stjålet, i alt omkring713 millioner dollars (532 millioner pund)Og firmaet advarer om, at dette kan være en undervurdering, fordi mange ofre aldrig anmelder tyveri offentligt.

Hvorfor skulle kriminelle bekymre sig om enkeltpersoner, når børser besidder milliarder?

Et par grunde fremkommer:

  1. Børserne har forbedret sikkerheden og håndteringen af ​​hændelser.Store virksomheder har råd til døgnåbne sikkerhedsteams, overvågning af udbetalinger og tilbagebetalingsstrategier.
  2. Enkeltpersoner er beskidte mål.Folk genbruger adgangskoder, gemmer nøgler i cloud-drev, falder for overtalende opfordringer og praler sommetider af deres beholdninger.
  3. Krypto-"selvforvaring" er nådesløs.Hvis du er din egen bank, er der ingen bank at ringe til.

Kort sagt: branchens sikkerhedsforbedringer kan skubbe angribere "nedstrøms" til det lettere bytte.

Regulering og beskyttelse: hvad du ikke får i kryptovaluta

BBC sætter kryptovaluta i kontrast til traditionel finansiel beskyttelse i Storbritannien, hvor ofre nogle gange kan læne sig op ad banker, kortselskaber osv.Finansiel ombudsmandstjeneste, eller denKompensationsordning for finansielle tjenester.

Kryptoinvestorer har stort set ikke disse puder.

DeFCAbeskriver krypto i Storbritannien som "stort set ureguleret og højrisiko" og advarer om, at hvis noget går galt, er det usandsynligt, at du er beskyttet - så du bør være forberedt på at miste alle dine penge.

BBC bemærker også den mærkelige kendsgerning, at selv store aktører kan have ujævn supporttilgængelighed afhængigt af jurisdiktion: den citererBinance, beskrevet som verdens største kryptobørs, rapporterer om1,4 millioner britiske brugere, mens en rådgivningsside for ofre for tyveri er blokeret i Storbritannien.

Den slags hul skaber ikke kriminalitet, men det kan forværre resultaterne: færre klare genopretningsveje betyder mere desperation og mere afhængighed af gør-det-selv-"genopretnings"-ordninger, der i sig selv kan blive til svindel.

Svindel, der ser moderne ud – men kører på ældgamle instinkter

Et gennemgående tema i rapporten er, at mange kryptotyverier ikke lykkes på grund af avanceret hacking, men fordi kriminelle forstår mennesker.

BBC beskriver en amerikansk sag, der involvererEvan Tangeman, 22, som erklærede sig skyldig i at være en del af en gruppe kaldetSocial Engineering EnterpriseAnklagere siger, at gruppen stjal mere end260 millioner dollars (194 millioner pund)mellemOktober 2023 og maj 2025, ofte ved at narre ofrene til at tro, at de havde med legitime børser at gøre, og overtale dem til at overføre mønter.

Den "overtalelses"-del er vigtig. Hvis et offer godkender en overførsel – selv under manipulation – vil blockchainen behandle den som en gyldig, endelig transaktion.

Med andre ord: krypto forstærker ikke bare hacking; det forstærker social engineering.

Når tyveri bliver fysisk: "skruenøgleangreb"

Rapporten fremhæver også den mørkeste kant af tendensen: tyveri, der forlader skærmen.

I kryptosamfundet findes der en betegnelse for røverier, der bruger trusler eller vold til at fremtvinge en overførsel:"Skruenøgleangreb", opkaldt efter historier om angribere, der brugte værktøj som skruenøgler til at intimidere ofre.

BBC beskriver sager, der viser, hvor virkeligt dette er blevet:

  • ISpanien, kriminelle forsøgte at tvinge et par til at udlevere kryptovaluta; manden blev skudt i benet, holdt fanget og senere fundet død i skov. Anholdelser fulgte i Spanien og sigtelser i Danmark.
  • IFrankrig, blev et forsøg på kidnapning af en kryptodirektørs familie optaget på video.
  • Tidligt2025,David Balland, medstifter af kryptosikkerhedsfirmaHovedbog, blev bortført sammen med sin kone; politiet reddede dem senere, men Ballands finger blev skåret af under afpresningsforsøget.
  • I Storbritannien anholdt politiet seks personer, efter at maskerede mænd stoppede en bil, der kørte mellemOxford og Londonog tvang en beboer til at overføre kryptovaluta til en værdi af1,5 millioner pund.

Mønsteret er dystert logisk: hvis krypto kan overføres øjeblikkeligt og uigenkaldeligt, bliver fysisk tvang en "genvej" for kriminelle, der allerede opererer voldelig.

Databrud: hvordan angribere opbygger lister over mål

En anden drivkraft bag kryptokriminalitet er data – ikke bare "kryptodata", men almindelig forbrugerinformation.

BBC interviewer Matthew Jones, grundlægger af kryptosikkerhedsfirmaet Haven, som argumenterer for, at i takt med at "Bitcoin-millionærer bliver så hyppige", beriger stjålne databaser konstant kriminelles mållister.

Et eksempel i rapporten drejer sig omKering(moderselskab for mærker som Gucci og Balenciaga). BBC siger, at en hacker hævdede at have købt regneark til300.000 dollars (224.000 pund)for at identificere dem, der bruger mange penge, og derefter krydsrefererede dem med en anden stjålet database for at målrette ofrene.

Hackeren hævdede at have svindlet flereCoinbasebrugere ud af mindst1,5 millioner dollars (1,1 millioner pund)i krypto, og viste BBC bevis for, at han besad dataene, og at han ejede dem700.000 dollars (522.000 pund)i Bitcoin, som han sagde kom fra ét offer.

Kering fortalte tidligere BBC, at deres it-systemer var blevet sikret efter bruddet, og at der ikke var blevet stjålet bankkontonumre, kreditkortoplysninger eller ID-numre fra myndighederne.

Selv uden betalingsoplysninger kan kontaktoplysninger plus forbrugsmønstre være nok til at opbygge et overbevisende svindelscript.

Sikkerhedsvåbenkapløbet: biometri, geofencing, panikknapper

Fordi kryptovaluta er bygget op omkring ideen om "self custody" – at holde sine egne nøgler – forsøger branchen at eftermontere den beskyttelse, som folk forventer af banker.

Matthew Jones siger, at han selv har fået stjålet kryptovaluta, og han er ved at udvikle sikkerhedsfunktioner til en wallet, som f.eks.:

  • Løbende biometriske kontroller, for at sikre at kun ejeren kan sende mønter.
  • Geofencing, for at blokere transaktioner uden for godkendte steder som hjemme eller arbejde.
  • ENpanikknap, formodentlig for hurtigt at indefryse aktivitet, når nogen har mistanke om tvang eller kompromis.

Dette er forsøg på at oversætte sikkerhedskoncepter fra den virkelige verden (identitetsverifikation, flag for mistænkelige placeringer, nødnedlukninger) til et system, der er designet til at undgå central kontrol.

Men BBC's centrale advarsel forbliver: jo flere mennesker behandler krypto som en normal opsparingskonto, jo mere kan de blive overrumplet af, hvor få forbrugerbeskyttelser der findes.

Praktiske trin for almindelige indehavere

Hvis du ejer kryptovaluta – selv en relativt lille mængde – foreslår rapporten et par defensive træk med høj gearing:

  1. Behandl din seed-frase som en kombination af kontanter og et pas.Hvis det bliver eksponeret, er helbredelse usandsynlig.
  2. Undgå at gemme adgangsoplysninger til tegnebogen på cloud-drev.Bekvemmelighed kan blive en angrebsvej, som i Helen og Richards tilfælde.
  3. Aktivér stærk kontosikkerhed overalt.Adgangskodeadministratorer, multifaktorgodkendelse og unikke adgangskoder reducerer risikoen for kompromittering.
  4. Vær skeptisk over for presserende kontakter vedrørende "udvekslingsstøtte".Social manipulation udnytter ofte tidspres.
  5. Overvej den fysiske risiko.Offentliggør ikke besiddelser, og tænk grundigt over, hvor let du kan blive tvunget.

Konklusion

Kryptokriminalitet handler ikke kun om elitehackere, der dræner børser. Det handler i stigende grad om kriminelle, der bruger lækkede data, overtalelse og nogle gange vold til at målrette enkeltpersoner – fordi kryptosystemet gør succesfulde tyverier hurtige, globale og svære at vende. Hvis du er "din egen bank", arver du også bankens sikkerhedsjob – og lige nu er mange mennesker ikke klar over, hvor krævende det job er, før pengene er væk.

Kilder

Document Title
Crypto theft explained: why criminals target individuals — scams, data leaks, and ‘wrench attacks’
Crypto crime is increasingly aimed at individual investors, using leaked data, social engineering and sometimes physical coercion. An explainer on how it works, what protections are missing, and practical ways to reduce risk.
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Crypto theft explained: why criminals target individuals — scams, data leaks, and ‘wrench attacks’
Nature
Climate
How crypto criminals are shifting from exchange hacks to targeting individuals
/
Technology
/ By
Admin
Crypto theft has a special kind of cruelty built into it. Even when your coins are gone, you can often still
see
them moving — hop by hop — across the public blockchain. It’s like watching your wallet being carried away through a glass corridor you’re not allowed to enter.
A BBC investigation into crypto crime puts hard numbers and human stories on a trend that’s been quietly shifting: while huge exchange hacks still dominate headlines, more criminals are turning their attention to individual investors — using old-school scams, leaked data, and, in the worst cases, physical violence.
Why crypto theft feels different from normal fraud
In traditional finance, the most common “happy ending” is boring: a bank reverses a transfer, a card company cancels a charge, or an insurer makes you whole. Crypto, by design, doesn’t work that way.
The BBC story opens with “Helen”, a UK resident who says she lost around
$315,000 (£250,000)
in cryptocurrency. For years she and her husband “Richard” (not his real name) had accumulated
Cardano
. They weren’t wealthy — she worked as a personal assistant, he as a composer — but they were methodical about saving and believed the asset could rise in value.
Then, in
February 2024
, criminals accessed a
cloud storage account
that contained information about their wallets and how to get in. After a small test transaction, the thieves moved all their coins into wallets they controlled. The couple watched for months as their funds were shuffled onward, powerless.
That helplessness is the psychological punch of crypto theft: the ledger is transparent, but the identity behind the wallet often isn’t.
The scale: millions of owners, billions stolen
Crypto ownership is no longer niche. The BBC cites an
FCA survey from August 2024
suggesting roughly
12% of British adults
had owned crypto-assets — about
seven million people
. Globally, estimates put crypto ownership around
560 million
.
With more people holding crypto, more value is available to steal. Blockchain analysis firm
Chainalysis
estimates that
2025
saw total crypto thefts of
more than $3.4bn (£2.5bn)
, a figure that has stayed in roughly the same range since 2020.
A significant share of those losses come from large-scale attacks on crypto companies. The BBC notes one of the biggest examples:
North Korean hackers stole $1.5bn (£1.1bn)
from the crypto exchange
Bybit
in
February 2025
But the story’s more worrying shift is what happens outside the exchanges.
The shift toward targeting individuals
Chainalysis research cited by the BBC suggests attacks on individual investors have surged: from about
40,000 in 2022
to
80,000 in 2025
Chainalysis estimates that hacking, scamming, or coercing individuals accounted for around
20% of all crypto value stolen
, totalling about
$713m (£532m)
. And the firm warns this could be an undercount because many victims never report theft publicly.
Why would criminals bother with individuals when exchanges hold billions?
A few reasons emerge:
Exchanges have improved security and incident response.
Big firms can afford 24/7 security teams, withdrawal monitoring, and clawback strategies.
Individuals are messy targets.
People reuse passwords, store keys in cloud drives, fall for persuasive calls, and sometimes boast about holdings.
Crypto “self custody” is unforgiving.
If you’re your own bank, there’s no bank to call.
In short: the industry’s security improvements may be pushing attackers “downstream” to the easier prey.
Regulation and protection: what you don’t get in crypto
The BBC contrasts crypto with traditional finance protections in the UK, where victims can sometimes lean on banks, card companies, the
Financial Ombudsman Service
, or the
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Crypto investors largely don’t have those cushions.
The
FCA
describes crypto in the UK as “largely unregulated and high-risk” and warns that if something goes wrong, you’re unlikely to be protected — so you should be prepared to lose all your money.
The BBC also notes the odd reality that even major players can have patchy support availability depending on jurisdiction: it cites
Binance
, described as the world’s largest crypto exchange, reporting about
1.4 million UK users
, while an advice page for victims of theft is blocked in the UK.
That kind of gap doesn’t create crime, but it can worsen outcomes: fewer clear recovery paths means more desperation and more reliance on do-it-yourself “recovery” schemes that can become scams themselves.
Scams that look modern — but run on ancient instincts
A theme running through the report is that many crypto thefts succeed not because of advanced hacking, but because criminals understand people.
The BBC describes a US case involving
Evan Tangeman
, 22, who pleaded guilty to being part of a group dubbed the
Social Engineering Enterprise
. Prosecutors say the group stole more than
$260m (£194m)
between
October 2023 and May 2025
, often by tricking victims into thinking they were dealing with legitimate exchanges and persuading them to transfer coins.
That “persuading” part matters. If a victim authorises a transfer — even under manipulation — the blockchain will treat it as a valid, final transaction.
In other words: crypto doesn’t just amplify hacking; it amplifies social engineering.
When theft becomes physical: “wrench attacks”
The report also highlights the darkest edge of the trend: theft that leaves the screen.
In the crypto community, there’s a term for robberies that use threats or violence to force a transfer:
“wrench attacks”
, named after stories of attackers using tools like spanners to intimidate victims.
The BBC describes cases that show how real this has become:
In
Spain
, criminals tried to force a couple to hand over cryptocurrency; the man was shot in the leg, held captive, and later found dead in woodland. Arrests followed in Spain and charges in Denmark.
France
, an attempted kidnapping of a crypto executive’s family was captured on video.
In early
,
David Balland
, co-founder of crypto security company
Ledger
, was abducted with his wife; police later rescued them, but Balland’s finger was cut off during the extortion attempt.
In the UK, police arrested six people after masked men stopped a car travelling between
Oxford and London
and forced an occupant to transfer cryptocurrency valued at
£1.5m
The pattern is grimly logical: if crypto can be transferred instantly and irreversibly, then physical coercion becomes a “shortcut” for criminals who already operate violently.
Data breaches: how attackers build lists of targets
Another engine of crypto crime is data — not just “crypto data”, but ordinary consumer information.
The BBC interviews Matthew Jones, founder of crypto security firm Haven, who argues that as “Bitcoin millionaires are becoming so frequent,” stolen databases are constantly enriching criminals’ target lists.
One example in the report involves
Kering
(parent of brands including Gucci and Balenciaga). The BBC says a hacker claimed to have bought spreadsheets for
$300,000 (£224,000)
to identify high spenders, then cross-referenced them with another stolen database to target victims.
That hacker claimed to have scammed multiple
Coinbase
users out of at least
$1.5m (£1.1m)
in crypto, and showed the BBC evidence that he possessed the data and that he owned
$700,000 (£522,000)
in Bitcoin that he said came from one victim.
Kering previously told the BBC that its IT systems had been secured after the breach and that no bank account numbers, credit card information, or government ID numbers were stolen.
Even without payment details, contact info plus spending patterns can be enough to build a compelling scam script.
The security arms race: biometrics, geofencing, panic buttons
Because crypto is built around the idea of “self custody” — holding your own keys — the industry is trying to retrofit protections that people expect from banks.
Matthew Jones says he has had crypto stolen himself, and he is developing wallet security features like:
Continuous biometric checks
, to ensure only the owner can send coins.
Geofencing
, to block transactions outside approved locations like home or work.
A
panic button
, presumably to quickly freeze activity when someone suspects coercion or compromise.
These are attempts to translate real-world safety concepts (identity verification, suspicious-location flags, emergency shutdowns) into a system that was designed to avoid central control.
But the BBC’s central warning remains: the more people treat crypto like a normal savings account, the more they can be blindsided by how few consumer protections exist.
Practical steps for ordinary holders
If you hold crypto — even a relatively small amount — the report suggests a few high-leverage defensive moves:
Treat your seed phrase like cash and a passport combined.
If it’s exposed, recovery is unlikely.
Avoid storing wallet access details in cloud drives.
Convenience can become an attack path, as in Helen and Richard’s case.
Enable strong account security everywhere.
Password managers, multi-factor authentication, and unique passwords reduce the chance of compromise.
Be sceptical of urgent “exchange support” contacts.
Social engineering often exploits time pressure.
Consider the physical risk.
Don’t publicise holdings, and think carefully about how easily you could be coerced.
Bottom line
Crypto crime isn’t just about elite hackers draining exchanges. It’s increasingly about criminals using leaked data, persuasion, and sometimes violence to target individuals — because the crypto system makes successful thefts fast, global, and hard to reverse. If you’re “your own bank,” you also inherit the bank’s security job — and right now, many people don’t realise how demanding that job is until after the money is gone.
Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93w30gl5jno?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
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