French police have arrested two suspected fraudsters accused of stealing about $1.8 million in cryptoassets from a rich couple throughout a pretend villa sale after a year-long investigation.
Abstract
- French police arrested a mom and son accused of stealing €1.5 million in crypto throughout a pretend villa sale.
- Investigators allege the suspects used hidden digicam glasses to seize pockets credentials and drain the victims’ funds.
- The case comes as France stories a continued rise in crypto-related crimes, together with kidnappings and extortion.
Based on French newspaper Var-Matin, French police from the Gassin–Saint-Tropez gendarmerie arrested a mom and her son on June 25 at a rented villa in Cavalaire-sur-Mer. The pair are accused of orchestrating a classy “rip deal” that focused a pair from Ramatuelle who had positioned their villa, valued at round €10 million (about $12 million), available on the market within the spring of 2025.
Based on the report, the suspects introduced themselves as intermediaries appearing for a rich Italian purchaser and invited the sellers to Milan for negotiations. There, the supposed purchaser allegedly provided to pay greater than the asking worth however required proof that the sellers might cowl €1.5 million ($1.8 million) in transaction-related prices by cryptoassets earlier than finishing the acquisition.
How the alleged crypto theft was carried out
French investigators stated the second assembly in Milan turned the turning level within the scheme. Based on the Gassin–Saint-Tropez gendarmerie, the suspects requested to confirm that the required cryptoassets existed earlier than the transaction proceeded.
Investigators consider the pair secretly obtained the victims’ pockets data by distracting them whereas utilizing hidden cameras built-in right into a pair of glasses to seize delicate pockets credentials. Authorities alleged the suspects gained entry to the account particulars and personal safety keys earlier than instantly draining the crypto holdings.
Following what the gendarmerie described as a protracted and sophisticated investigation, officers recognized the suspects regardless of their use of false identities and their frequent journey throughout France. The defendants, who reportedly stay within the Paris area and have prior prison data for comparable offenses, denied the allegations throughout police questioning.
The suspects have been positioned underneath judicial supervision and are scheduled to look earlier than the Draguignan Legal Courtroom on Sept. 1. They face prices together with organized fraud and failure to justify monetary sources.
In the meantime, French courts have ordered the seizure of three Côte d’Azur properties linked to the suspects with an estimated mixed worth of €1.9 million pending the result of the case.
France faces continued rise in crypto-related crime
Though investigators categorized the incident as a basic “rip deal” somewhat than a violent crypto extortion case, the alleged theft comes as France continues to report a rising variety of crimes focusing on digital asset holders.
Earlier this week, as reported by crypto.information, French Inside Minister Laurent Nuñez stated authorities had recorded 77 circumstances involving kidnapping, illegal detention, extortion or tried offenses related to the crypto sector in 2026, up from 45 circumstances in 2025.
Nuñez instructed trade representatives that the incidents have been “severe issues” whereas saying emergency safety measures launched over the previous yr had began to supply outcomes. He additionally stated roughly 200 individuals had been arrested following assaults or preventive operations, whereas 724 trade members had enrolled in France’s quick identification platform, an 11% enhance.
Individually, crypto journalist Joe Nakamoto beforehand stated, as reported by crypto.information, that France accounts for about 70% of reported bodily assaults towards crypto holders and their households.
Nakamoto additionally reported 41 crypto-linked kidnappings within the nation thus far in 2026, averaging roughly one incident each two and a half days. His figures describe so-called “crypto wrench assaults,” by which criminals use violence, threats, kidnapping, or house invasions to power victims or their kin to give up entry to digital belongings.
Whereas the Ramatuelle case relied on deception as a substitute of bodily coercion, investigators say it demonstrates how criminals are adapting conventional actual property fraud schemes to focus on cryptocurrency homeowners.
