A French couple was forced to move nearly $1 million worth of Bitcoin home during a fake police raid, local media say, as key attacks are on the rise.
According to TF1 Info and Agence France-Presse (AFP), a French couple in their late 50s were forced to hand over nearly €900,000 ($1 million) worth of bitcoins during a fake police raid on their home west of Paris.
According to TF1 Info and AFP, three suspects posing as police officers entered the couple’s home in Le Chesnay-Rockencourt, Yvelines department, on Monday morning and forced the husband to hand over Bitcoin (BTC) while threatening the couple with a knife. The attackers then tied up the man, injured both victims and fled in a white van, reports said.
According to reports, the woman then freed her husband and alerted neighbors around 9:00 a.m. local time. The Versailles prosecutor’s office said the case was being investigated by the anti-piracy brigade on charges of sequestration, armed robbery by an organized group and criminal conspiracy. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.
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Key attacks are seeing an alarming increase as France experiences more incidents
The attack adds to the rise of so-called key attacks, in which criminals use threats or violence to force crypto holders to hand over digital assets. According to cybersecurity platform CertiK, keystroke attacks will increase by 75% in 2025, with 72 confirmed cases worldwide.
France confirmed the highest number of such incidents in 2025 with 19 key attacks, while Europe alone accounted for around 40% of global incidents in 2025.
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France has already seen several high-profile crypto-related cases this year, including kidnappings and home invasions. In early February, French police arrested six people accused of kidnapping a judge and his mother in a crypto-ransom attack that targeted the magistrate’s associate, a crypto entrepreneur.
Days after the incident, French authorities arrested three suspects after breaking into the home of a Binance France executive.
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