Russian gang steal Bitcoin worth millions from young Russian couple in Phuket condo extortion

[webfact]

Russian gang steal Bitcoin worth millions from young Russian couple in Phuket condo extortion

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A Russian couple have gone to Thai police to say that compatriots posing initially as Interpol had entered their condominium and forced them to give passwords before stealing nearly 4 million baht in Bitcoin.

 

Maxsim Latsoka, 23, and Anna Nikurina, 28, were returning home on Monday at 10pm and as they entered their fourth floor condo room in Muang district they were bundled into the room by two Russian men.

 

The men said they were Interpol from Russia investigating Bitcoin irregularities. The men put a hood over Maxim and wrapped a towel around the head of his girlfriend before another Russian man came into the bedroom.

 

He ordered them to give the password of their computer notebook then the password of their Bitcoin account. If they didn't they were told they would be injected with drugs and handed over to the Thai police

 

The gang were in the room for a total of five hours, reported Thai Rath.

 

They managed to get 100,000 Euros in Bitcoin emptying the account. Then they fled with the notebook warning the couple they would be back to carry out their threats if they went to the Thai police.

 

A Thai forensics team were at the condo yesterday. The Russian couple initially were scared to report the theft but a friend who is a volunteer policeman persuaded them that it was better to report it.

 

Thai police said that they have information that the gang have fled to Malaysia.

 

Arrest warrants are being prepared.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-01-18

[webfact]

Russian couple robbed of US$100,000 in bitcoin in Phuket

By The Nation

 

A Russian couple filed a complaint on Thursday saying they were the victims of strongarm robbery in their condominium in Phuket and forced to transfer US$100,000 (Bt3.2 million) worth of bitcoin,police said.

 

The couple, Maxin Lastouka, 27, and Nikulina Anna, 22, filed the complaint with the Chalong police station on Thursday morning, saying they had been robbed by a group of foreigners late Monday night.

 

There was no indication why they waited several days to notify police, although the assailants reportedly told them they would be killed if they reported the incident.

 

The complaint said several foreigners, who were believed to also be Russian, had stormed into their condominium in Tambon Rawai of Muang district.

 

The assailants allegedly stole three notebook computers, an iPhone X smartphone and their passports and also forced the couple to transfer the cryptocurrency.

 

The couple said they had been detained for six hours before the assailants fled. Lastouka said he had recognised one of the assailants because he had seen him in the area earlier.

 

Police checked the GPS signal of the stolen iPhone X, which indicated that whoever was carrying it had left Phuket, passed through Nakhon Si Thammarat and transited into Malaysia.

 

Police said they believed the assailants were a gang of Russian criminals who had monitored the couple for a while and attacked them after learning that they had cryptocurrency savings.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30336546

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-01-18

[petermik]

Oh dear..........

[sanemax]

21 minutes ago, webfact said:

Police checked the GPS signal of the stolen iPhone X, which indicated that whoever was carrying it had left Phuket, passed through Nakhon Si Thammarat and transited into Malaysia.

The should really not have made this info public , for obvious reasons

[Get Real]

I wonder if it is 4M Thai Bath, 100000 Euro or 100000 USD? 

Otherwise, this is how it goes for people talking to much and showing off how smart they have been. How in the world could anybody know that this pair was the ones to rob.

The smart persons that mekaes the good money, not even give any person their full address. They just keep a low profile.

[Xaos]

[emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[diehard60]

so let more russians in the country. good for tourism

[1337markus]

From Interpol in Russia mmmmmmmmmm, I wonder how the FSB lets them carry out work?

[pomozki]

"Thai police said that they have information that the gang have fled to Malaysia.

 

Arrest warrants are being prepared."

 

love it

[baansgr]

One of the many pitfalls of bitcoin etc, cyber currency theft is not relevent to where you are. No jurisdiction or regulations whatsover. 50% drop in one week, with more to come. 

[neeray]

Loose lips sink ships. 

[Rimmer]

A troll/slur post has been removed

[sammieuk1]

A lot of holes in this story like how would they know he had bitcoins? Lucky for me it was not my gaff as I have hundreds of them little Thai one's down the back of the sofa.

[csabo]

 

[DLang]

So the amount stolen is worth about 10 baht by today's rates. 

[Berkshire]

With the way bitcoin price fluctuates, they'll only have to wait a few days and their loss will go from 4 mil THB to about 1 mil THB.  In a few months, they may have not lost anything.

[chicowoodduck]

What a load of BS!!!?? Like two Russian kids had millions? 

 

They both need to go back to daycare and say they are sorry.....?

[LivinLOS]

4 hours ago, Get Real said:

I wonder if it is 4M Thai Bath, 100000 Euro or 100000 USD? 
 

 

With the crypto volatility in the last few days it could have been all of them

 

[Basil B]

Better spend it fast as bitcoin has nearly lost half its value in the last 4 weeks... 

 

[Brickbat]

No different to blabbing u have lots of cash in your joint in a seedy part of Thailand. It’s not just crypto currencies, it could be diamonds or drugs. Just a stupid insecure couple blabbing , and paid the price

[AWillOz]

yeah, if you got wealth, keep it quiet!

[Brickbat]

18 minutes ago, chicowoodduck said:

What a load of BS!!!?? Like two Russian kids had millions? 

 

They both need to go back to daycare and say they are sorry.....?

Dopeheads don’t realise that Cryptocurrencies were dirt cheap just 18 months ago , infact Ethereum in early 2016 was around A$4, went up to $2000 and $1380 today. Work it out what 1000 coins are now worth at a buy price of $4000. Yup! Millions!!.  Smart kids could have bought them. 

[wavemanwww]

48 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

A lot of holes in this story like how would they know he had bitcoins? Lucky for me it was not my gaff as I have hundreds of them little Thai one's down the back of the sofa.

Totally agree. "I smell a rat" and the smell is coming from the victims and Thieves/robbers who are both Russian..Insurance scam?

 

Amount stolen? Conflicting amounts same story:

• before stealing nearly 4 million baht in Bitcoin Thai News. That's $125,000 US . Then we have,
• From The Nation. Russian couple robbed of US$100,000 in bitcoin in Phuket .

It's an inside job tied in with Thai cops.Victims /Robbers and Thai police for insurance. Case solved. Next fraud case!

 

 

[CanuckThai]

Interesting discrepancies in the 2 stories.  Media discrepancies or victim statement discrepancies?  

[Songlaw]

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

The should really not have made this info public , for obvious reasons

Man, you aren't kidding. As presented, there could conceivably have been a one-and-one-time-only, against-all-odds type chance of this ending up anything other than fubar. However, after this colossal misstep? The odds went from imperceptible to none. Another astoundingly fortuituous, yet somehow unsurprisingly squandered opportunity.

 

Don't get me wrong, besides the window of opportunity being so small as to be illusory, the operation would have required the on-hand, financial wherewithal to successfully and quickly assemble a fairly capable 'strike force' (surprisingly doable here, but with the built-in need to get your hands dirty in the interests of dissuading the always imminent doublecross), along with 'a man on the inside' and the element of surprise, both crucial for there to be even the remotest possibility of success.

 

In that final context, the phone was a needlessly sacrificed twofer, supplying both the inside info and the all-important element of surprise. Equally important to note here is that the 'unease of traceability' for which cryptocurrencies are often touted, like everything in life perceived to have advantages, cuts in two directions -- yes, you can transact with impunity, but if, when and however it 'goes away,' it will tend to be gone forever -- so do your homework and tread lightly. Walls quite often have eyes, as well as ears, so keeping your mouth shut about everything you do here can't hurt.

 

Then there is the "or not" factor. This whole event could be a work of fiction. Forgive my skepticism, but my proffered solution, in that case, would be fitting.

[Ron19]

An off topic post has been removed.

[The Deerhunter]

3 hours ago, 1337markus said:

From Interpol in Russia mmmmmmmmmm, I wonder how the FSB lets them carry out work?

Or employees of the North Korean secret service????????????????   They are the ones who have reputedly stolen millions or billions in bit Coins recently

[wavemanwww]

1 hour ago, Brickbat said:

Dopeheads don’t realise that Cryptocurrencies were dirt cheap just 18 months ago , infact Ethereum in early 2016 was around A$4, went up to $2000 and $1380 today. Work it out what 1000 coins are now worth at a buy price of $4000. Yup! Millions!!.  Smart kids could have bought them. 

 

22 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

Or employees of the North Korean secret service????????????????   They are the ones who have reputedly stolen millions or billions in bit Coins recently

Kids buy when things are at a ridiculous price. Adults sell knowing that!

[sanuk711]

A boy asked his investing dad for 1 bitcoin for his birthday.

 

Dad: What? $15,554......you want  $14,354 Son  $12,465  is a lot of money! What do you need $16,782 for anyway?  Can you tell me how do you intend to invest that $18,563 ??

[Get Real]

2 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

 

With the crypto volatility in the last few days it could have been all of them

 

Yep! You´re right! From around 550K to around 400K. That´s called a loss. Maybe they shuold thank the robbers for relieving them from the pain.