Patricia Howell, a resident of the town of Youngsville, North Carolina, United States (USA), was nearly hit by a telephone call. According to the Cbs17 network, a person asked for a $ 600 bailout in bitcoin to release his dog that had been missing since May 20.
The coup threatened to sell or kill Happy, a basset hound, if Howell did not transfer the bitcoins to him. What the criminal did not know was that the pet was already at home and safe.
After Happy's disappearance, Howell posted his phone number and details of his pet on social networks, such as Facebook, as well as a site called Pawboost, which specializes in disseminating missing pet information.
Howell said he never imagined anyone would use them to demand ransom for their lost dog.
The criminal then used this information to apply a coup. Since the redemption payment was requested in bitcoin - a decentralized financial transaction and very difficult to figure out who pays and receives, the thug believed to be the perfect blow.
The scammer said on the phone that he would send the address of a bitcoin wallet via text message to Howell to make the transfer.
The incident was filed with the Granville County Police Department. Upon hearing the facts, the sheriff and his staff said that this was the first time the office dealt with this type of case, but had heard of similar cases in other countries.
The sheriff's team tried to track down the criminal's call, but reported that the telephone used by the bad guy unfortunately can not be traced.
Howell said criminals "need to find a better way to make money."
Kidnapping and Bitcoin
South African student Katlego Marite, 13, was kidnapped by a gang in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, on Sunday (20). According to police, the kidnappers demanded R $ 450,000 in bitcoin.
Recently a 34-year pastor of the Assembleia de Deus Mission, in São José dos Campos, in the interior of São Paulo, simulated the kidnapping itself and asked the family to pay for the rescue of 3 bitcoins.
In December last year, kidnappers seized $ 1 million worth of bitcoins in exchange for the life of Pavel Lerner, a blockchain expert and executive of a UK-based cryptoneurist exchange. As a result, the ransom was paid and Lerner was released by the Ukrainian hijackers.
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