Odaily Planet Daily News Cryptocurrency traders are increasingly becoming targets of kidnapping and extortion, as highlighted by several cases reported in recent weeks. According to local French media France Bleu Normandie, French police rescued a man who was tied up in the trunk of a car in Le Mans, after the kidnappers demanded ransom from his son, a cryptocurrency KOL living in Dubai. The incident occurred on the night of January 1, when Le Mans police intercepted a stolen vehicle at a gas station. Upon opening the trunk, they found a 56-year-old man drenched in gasoline. The victim stated that masked attackers broke into his home on New Year's Eve, kidnapped him and his wife, and transported him nearly 500 kilometers away. The kidnappers used a cryptocurrency network to demand ransom from his son. In Pakistan, on January 3, seven people, including an anti-terrorism official, were arrested for kidnapping a local cryptocurrency trader. The victim, Mohammed Arsalan, was abducted on December 25 in Manhopir, Karachi. Reports indicate that the kidnappers forced him to transfer $340,000 through his Binance account before dumping him near the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah mausoleum. The criminals successfully escaped the scene, and the investigation is still ongoing. Previously, in December, a 24-year-old woman, Catherine Colivas, kidnapped a member of the Saudi royal family with the help of three accomplices and threatened to cut off his fingers to force him to pay $40,000 in Bitcoin. Although the woman pleaded guilty, she was not sentenced to prison. Catherine Colivas faces up to 25 years in prison at a hearing in Victoria, Australia. She pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, extortion, reckless injury, theft, and gun possession. However, the judge cited her age, difficult upbringing, mental health status, rehabilitation prospects, and the death of her brother while awaiting trial as reasons for her sentencing, deeming her situation "special" and ordering 30 months of community service as sufficient. Meanwhile, Toronto police are still investigating the kidnapping case of Dean Skurka, CEO of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange WonderFi. According to CBC News, Skurka was kidnapped during peak hours in downtown Toronto on November 6 and was released after electronically paying a $1 million ransom. According to data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, ransomware gangs extorted over $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency from victims in 2023. (Cointelegraph)