- Four hooded men bound a Vendin-le-Vieil family of four and forced the father to transfer €40,000 in cryptocurrency.
- Béthune prosecutors opened a case for unlawful detention and organized extortion, a crime punishable by up to 20 years.
- The men stayed more than three hours before fleeing in a vehicle, and police are still searching for them.
Four hooded men broke into a family home in northern France, say prosecutors in Béthune, who have opened an organized extortion case.
The men tied up a couple and their two children and coerced the father into transferring €40,000 in cryptocurrency.
Four hooded men held a Vendin-le-Vieil family for over three hours
The break-in took place around 4 a.m. on Sunday, September 20, at a detached house in Vendin-le-Vieil, near Lens, in the Pas-de-Calais, on the rue Simone Veil.
Four hooded men burst in and tied up all four members of the family with black tape, a police source said.
Inside were a 40-year-old salary-earning IT worker in the cryptocurrency sector, his 41-year-old partner and their 12-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son.
Prosecutors said the father was insulted, threatened, and beaten until he relinquished his login details and identification codes.
Then he transferred €40,000 in cryptocurrency. The daughter was struck on the back of the head to wake her, a police source said.
The men remained for over three hours before fleeing in a vehicle, a police source said. The family freed itself and firefighters took over from 7 a.m.
Prosecutors said a forensic doctor will examine the victims in shock. A victim support group, France Victimes 62, was mobilized.
The charges at this stage include unlawful detention of several people and extortion by an organized gang, which can bring up to 20 years in prison.
Pas-de-Calais and Nord’s judicial police, along with France’s Anti-Cybercrime Office (OFAC), are working on the case. The police are still hunting for the four men.
Nuñez counted 77 cases by June against 45 in all of 2025
France has registered 77 kidnapping, detention, and extortion cases linked to crypto by the end of June, compared with 45 for all of 2025, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in July.
The national organized-crime unit, PNACO, tallied 18 cases in 2024. As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, authorities had charged 88 people by June.
France represented 33 of the 52 verified wrench attacks globally in the first half of 2026, which is about 63.5% of the world’s total.
In August, Cryptopolitan reported that a hacker was marketing tax records of over 678,000 French individuals and companies stolen from the tax authority DGFiP.
A DGFiP official is also accused of querying crypto-holder profiles in government software and of selling the data to criminal networks.
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FAQs
What happened in Vendin-le-Vieil?
Four hooded men broke into a family's home near Lens, bound the parents and their two children with tape, and forced the father, an IT worker in the crypto sector, to transfer €40,000 in cryptocurrency before fleeing in a vehicle.
What offenses are French prosecutors investigating?
The Béthune prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the unlawful detention of several people and extortion by an organized group, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Why is France seeing so many violent crypto robberies?
France recorded 77 crypto-linked kidnapping, detention, and extortion cases in the first half of 2026. Analysts link the surge to large data leaks, including tax records on more than 678,000 French individuals and companies marketed by a hacker.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
Randa Moses
Randa Moses is an editor and reporter at Cryptopolitan covering tech, AI, robotics, crypto, scams, and hacks. She has worked in the crypto space since 2017. She held roles at Forward Protocol, AmaZix, and Cryptosomniac. Randa holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Bradford.
