21 Year old jailed for stealing Cryptocurrency by luring victims on Snapchat
May 16th, 2022 - Written By CyberLabs
Online crypto scams and fraudulent schemes are hardly anything new. However, this specific case of a London based crypto robber transcends the virtual realm and reveals a bolt from the blue. Where victims caught were coerced in to paying £34,000 in total to the perpetrator. On the 11th of May, a 21 year old was sentenced by the Crown Court at Southwark in London. 21 years old Karim Hassan was sentenced to 5 years in prison for committing multiple crypto robberies and threatening the caught victims. Karim, a resident of London’s Maida Vale district would use Snapchat to anonymously communicate with customers looking to exchange their cryptocurrency for cash in person. To continue with transactions he would ask his customers to meet him in his black Audi A6, after which in the backseat of the car he would ask them to hand over their phones and digital wallets containing Bitcoin and crypto-assets. If the customer hesitates or refuses he would then threaten them and the situation would turn in to something ugly where Karim would resort to ghastly violence or even sexual assault.
One of the victims named Zain Hankin had video called Karim prior to the meet up, and upon refusal to give his phone to Karim, was quickly threatened to “do something before I stick it in your neck,” states the victim’s statement. After being held at knifepoint by Karim, Hankin had little choice other than to give away his crypto worth £20,000 to the perpetrator. In some instances, Karim would describe himself as a “killer” who was anyway going to jail and was “going to stab you in the neck”. Sometimes, he would allegedly go to the extent of physically assaulting victims or threatening them that he’d cut off their fingers “one by one,” should they refuse to cooperate. The crypto robber victimized many and is now facing a 5 year prison sentence. Note to the public would be to never trust anonymous online sources even if they claim to be from some sort of legit corporation, always verify before dealing with such online personalities.
