Police in Marseille, France, detained four suspects in an operation carried out over the weekend. According to authorities, the incident emerged when a robbery attempt targeting crypto asset owners turned into a kidnapping attempt in which two women were taken hostage. Information in the local press indicated that this may be the first similar case targeting crypto investors in the Marseille region.
The chain of attacks started the same night
According to the investigation file, the incidents involving the suspects started around 03:00 on Saturday, June 14. The first attempt occurred when they tried to enter a residence in the 13th district of Marseille. After the attempt failed, the suspects fled the scene but left a license plate number behind.
The same group is also considered to be linked to at least two separate attacks reported that night in the towns of Gardanne and Gignac la Nerthe. Police later caught the four men holding the two women against their will. According to authorities, the suspects were demanding access to victims’ digital asset wallets.
According to the police assessment, the attackers took action at multiple locations in a single night and tried to gain access to the crypto wallets of the people they targeted.
It was stated that the common point of the attacked people was that they had earned crypto income in the past. It was reported that the family in the 13th district of Marseille were the parents of an investor who disposed of his assets more than a year ago. Investigators think the attackers may have targeted this household based on old information.
Organized crime unit took over the investigation
The file was handed over to the BRB, the anti-organized crime unit in Marseille. BRB is among the judicial police units in France that work on serious criminal organizations and planned violent actions.
Mini dictionary: Wrench attack refers to a type of physical attack in which the attacker tries to get wallet access or private keys by directly threatening the person rather than breaking technical systems.
It is stated that there is a significant increase in physical attacks against crypto asset holders and their families across France. Authorities announced in April that more than 40 cryptocurrency-related kidnappings or kidnapping attempts have been recorded since the beginning of 2026. Previously published news reported that more than 70 similar attacks were reported across the country this year.
Suspicion of data leakage comes to the fore in target selection
Philippe Chadrys, deputy national director of the French judicial police, said criminal networks carrying out such operations were often run from outside France. Chadrys stated that attack methods and target identification methods can change, and in some cases, victim information is given to the actual attackers at the last minute.
Philippe Chadrys explained that the mechanism of attacks and the methods of target selection vary from case to case, and in some cases, the identity of the victim is notified to the people who carried out the attack at the last minute.
According to Le Parisien’s news dated June 14, three people disguised as police officers attacked a couple in the city of Nancy. The report claimed that the attackers obtained information about the husband’s crypto balance from a January data breach on the French crypto tax reporting platform Waltio. It was reported that the e-mail addresses, transaction records and portfolio values of approximately 50 thousand users were exposed.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov also drew attention to a separate alleged breach at the French Secure Documents Agency. It was claimed that personal data of 19 million people may have been exposed in this incident. Some of Durov’s further claims are unsubstantiated, but the fact that crypto holders have to declare wallet addresses and capital gains makes centralized repositories valuable to attackers.
Hardening in the judicial process draws attention
It has been reported that prosecutors in France have charged 88 people in crypto-related kidnapping cases as of April. In Morocco, Mohamed Hamid Bajou was sentenced to 25 years in prison for planning a series of kidnappings in France. These files include the kidnapping of Ledger co-founder David Balland in January 2025.
Detentions made around Marseille over the weekend show that criminal groups may have turned to areas they had previously stayed away from. For investigators, the license plate recorded at the initial crime scene is considered to be an important trace that could link the suspects to a wider criminal network.
