Although he did not have to "run away", the young Singaporean trader received a "slap in the face" as a lesson for his carelessness.
Singaporean trader nearly robbed of $24,000 for direct crypto trading. Photo: Mothership
According to local media Mothership , a 19-year-old man in Singapore was forced to abandon a direct USDT stablecoin purchase deal after two men staged a robbery to rob him of SGD 32,000 (US$24,000) in cash.
Man, 19, allegedly punched in Hougang while trying to buy S$32,000 of cryptocurrency in offline meet-up https://t.co/FND4QUIT8w pic.twitter.com/Nu8G0Z35WB
— Mothership (@MothershipSG) September 4, 2024
Specifically, this 19-year-old young man wanted to buy a large amount of stablecoin USDT with the amount of 32,000 Singapore dollars (SGD), but because he did not want to spend 1-2% transaction fee of the total P2P buying/selling value on crypto exchange platforms such as Binance , he looked for a seller willing to swap through direct transactions.
On the evening of August 28, 2024, the young man posted a request on Telegram using the account nicknamed "ZX" looking for a seller. After that, an account contacted him expressing interest and both parties set an appointment to make a direct transaction at Hougang Green Shopping Center the following evening.
However, when ZX showed up at the mall at the appointed location, the salesman suddenly said that he was "waiting in a nearby parking lot" and insisted that ZX go to the parking lot and lead him in.
As expected, ZX went to the parking lot but still did not see the USDT seller with the reason "wait for me to finish smoking then I will come in".
Immediately after the phone call, two men from a distance gradually walked towards the buyer and suddenly punched ZX's left cheek, causing bruises, and tried to snatch her handbag in an attempt to rob her of SGD 32,000.
ZX quickly escaped the two men's siege as he ran towards the shopping mall, shouting "Robbery...robbery" in the hope that someone would come to save him.
But this effort was in vain, the two robbers continued to chase ZX all the way to the shopping mall, forcing the young man to continue running out of the area, and headed to the nearby police station to report the incident with his money intact.
Man charged after failed attempt to rob teen of $32,000 in Hougang https://t.co/v6xpEue94y
— The Straits Times (@straits_times) September 5, 2024
On September 5, 2024, a source from Singapore's oldest daily newspaper, The Strait Times, said that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) had successfully arrested three men in a robbery case with assault and battery.
Three men were identified and arrested by Ang Mo Kio Police Department between 30 August and 3 September 2024:
- Benedict Yee Hong Fai, 29, contacted ZX via messaging app Telegram on August 29, and arranged for two other men to attack the buyer in an attempt to rob him of S$32,000.
- Two men aged between 20 and 29 were assigned by Yee to attack ZK in an attempt to rob him of money but failed.
Benedict Yee Hong Fai is currently in custody awaiting trial on September 12. If convicted of robbery causing injury, Yee could face a prison sentence of between five and 20 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane.
Robberies, or worse, murders, for cryptocurrency are not unprecedented. In the past, in 2018,Canadian police also recorded a series of crypto thefts at private homes , most of which targeted wealthy individuals who owned large amounts of cryptocurrency assets.
In Vietnam in 2023, there was also a report of a cryptocurrency robbery through a plan to stage a car collision on the Longing Thanh - Dau Giay highway to control the victim to open access to the electronic wallet to rob Bitcoin worth 35 billion VND (1.5 million USD).
Recently, Ukrainian police successfully arrested a group of people who kidnapped and murdered a 29-year-old man for $170,000 worth of Bitcoin.
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