A Ukrainian man has become the latest crypto holder to fall victim to a “$5 wrench attack” after being robbed of 250,000 in USDT.
According to a recent report by English-language local news outlet Bangkok Post, 23-year-old Viacheslav Leibov was invited into a hotel room by his 18-year-old Ukrainian friend Alfred Chernyshuk on Friday. After entering the room, Leibov met an Armenian man identified as Arman Grigoryan, who brought him in and talked with him on the balcony.
The alleged crime took place when the would-be victim decided to make use of the toilet, where he found two men with their faces covered waiting for him. The pair tied his limbs with ropes and cable ties and ordered him to transfer 500,000 in the stablecoin USDT to a specific wallet—or else they would break his fingers. Grigoryan held a hammer, while one of the masked men had a long knife in his hands.
Leibov recounted that he asked the gang to halve the amount requested and made the 250,000 USDT transfer to a wallet controlled by the alleged robbers. He was then tied to a bed and warned not to report the crime. The purported criminals then collected their belongings and left the room.
Leibov claims that he was eventually able to free himself and contact hotel staff, who said that the room was rented in the names of Chernyshuk and Grigoryan. He then immediately left for the airport in search of his assailants, but was unable to locate any of them, before reporting the incident to the police.
Crypto robberies on the rise
The news follows a similar robbery in Thailand about a week ago. Rooch Network co-founder Haichao Zhu recently reported being robbed at knifepoint by two assailants in Bangkok, just days before Ethereum's Devcon conference.
Violent attacks on prominent crypto holders have recently occurred in other countries, too. In Canada, crypto entrepreneur Dean Skurka, CEO of Toronto-based crypto firm WonderFi Technologies, was kidnapped in the city on Wednesday evening and held for a $CAD 1 million ($720,000) ransom.