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Dramatic video of thwarted kidnapping sparks ‘Mexicanisation’ of France warnings

An attempted kidnapping this week of the daughter of a cryptocurrency platform boss in Paris, which was caught on video, has sparked calls to bolster security. It was the third such violent incident in France this year, prompting fears of a rise in crypto kidnappings.

The chilling video clip of an attempted kidnapping – in broad daylight, in the heart of Paris – has sparked urgent calls for increased security following recent kidnappings in France of individuals holding crypto-assets.

The calls came after footage of a botched kidnapping on a quiet street in Paris’s 11th arrondissement (district) was posted online Tuesday.

The footage showed three masked men wrestling with a couple on a Parisian sidewalk as the man hoarsely screams, “au secours”, help in French. The man’s cries are immediately heard, with residents and passers-by yelling as the couple vigorously resist attempts by their attackers to drag them into a getaway van parked right by the scene.

A man from a nearby shop then rushes out to help, brandishing a fire extinguisher. As pandemonium ensues, the attackers abandon their attempt to abduct the woman, and flee into the getaway van. As the vehicle departs, the plucky man with the fire extinguisher flings the red can in his hand at the van.

Police later recovered the abandoned van, which contained a BB gun. An investigation and a search for the perpetrators has been launched.

The woman who escaped the kidnapping attempt has not been named. She was identified as the 34-year-old daughter of the CEO and co-founder of Paymium, a French cryptocurrency exchange platform, who was with her partner and child at the time of the attack.

The man with the fire extinguisher, identified as a neighbourhood bicycle shop owner, Nabil, has been hailed as a local hero for helping thwart the kidnapping. “I rushed over with that object, not knowing exactly what I was going to do with it. But I feel like it ended the altercation. So I achieved my goal,” he told Reuters.

The goal of ensuring the security of individuals with crypto assets in France however is not being met, according to critics. Hours after the video clip was posted online Tuesday, the business partner of a cryptocurrency firm boss who was abducted in January in the Gers region in southwestern France, posted an impassioned plea on X.

Eric Larchevêque is the business partner of David Balland, co-founder of the Ledger crypto firm who had his finger cut off by the kidnappers.

In a lengthy message in French on X, Larchevêque called for a “stop to the Mexicanisation of France” in a stab at what he called the “laxity” of law enforcement.

“For several months now, horrifying cases of kidnappings and attempted kidnappings have been multiplying. In broad daylight. In the heart of Paris. Before everyone’s eyes,” wrote Larchevêque.

“And what do we get in response? That we should have maintained a low profile … That we were asking for it,” he continued.

Responding to the concerns, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he would meet industry professionals on Friday to discuss how to prevent future kidnappings and raise risk awareness.

“I will assemble businesspeople working in cryptocurrencies, and we have a few of those in France, at the interior ministry to work with them on their security,” Retailleau told the Europe 1/CNews broadcaster.

The security fears of cryptocurrency owners are justified, say cybersecurity experts. Victim-blaming is rife when it comes to crimes targeting individuals perceived as being flashy influencers on social media, which is far from reality. Meanwhile the attackers are typically lowly gang members looking for a quick fortune. They also make amateurish mistakes on the job.

No rules, no authority, ‘total’ vulnerability
The targeting of cryptocurrency figures comes amid a rise in organised crime and a wave of prison attacks purportedly carried out by narcotics kingpins, which has boosted support for the far-right in France.

On May 1, the father of a French crypto player was kidnapped for ransom in Paris and was rescued by police days later, missing a finger.

The attackers kidnapped the victim to force his crypto-millionaire son, based in Dubai, to pay a ransom. Police arrested seven people after a raid to free the man.

It came months after Balland was kidnapped for ransom along with his wife. The Ledger co-founder lost his finger before being rescued.

“It’s a sector where there are no rules, no authority. This freedom now comes at a price: isolation and fear,” explained FRANCE 24 business correspondent Mounia Ben Aissa Kacem. “When you hold several million, or even billions, in a single digital wallet, you are totally vulnerable. Unlike a bank account, you can’t stop payments on a crypto wallet. If you give up your security key, that’s it. The funds disappear in just a few clicks – for good,” she added.

“That’s precisely what exposes crypto bosses. Cryptocurrency is a fascinating sector that inspires many fantasies, not least the possibility of making a fortune very quickly,” noted Ben Aissa Kacem.

A common public misconception is that the recent crypto-rich victims of such crimes are influencers displaying their affluent lifestyles on social media, said Renaud Lifchitz, a cybersecurity and cryptocurrency expert, on FRANCE 24’s “Economie” show.

But that’s “a preconceived idea”, he noted. “When you look at the profile of the latest victims, they were more business leaders than young influencers showing off their cars on social media… The real problem isn’t the display, but rather the people we know who are rich because they’re entrepreneurs, because they’ve made a fortune, because they have a business,” he explained.

‘Amateur’ criminals making ‘a lot of mistakes’
While the targeted cryptocurrency bosses appear to be educated entrepreneurs, the profile of their attackers is mostly low-level criminals, according to Lifchitz.

“These are often very young people who are literally paid by the job,” said Lifchitz. “They’re really amateurs who make a lot of mistakes. As you can see in the video [of Tuesday’s attack], they’re disorganised, they’re thwarted by a fire extinguisher.”

The masterminds of such attacks are “a little more seasoned”, said Lifchitz. They “often operate from a distance, so they’re a little harder to find. They may even be abroad or in prison, as in the case of drug trafficking bosses”, he noted.

But while they may be older and more experienced criminals than the hit-men they hire for the job, the masterminds are often not technically savvy, said Lifchitz.

“They make a number of mistakes,” he said, noting that none of the perpetrators of the latest kidnappings managed to make any money from their crimes. “It’s because there was an accumulation of errors. They asked for money, for example in stable currency, typically in dollar equivalents. These are currencies that can be frozen remotely.”

Blockchains, or distributed databases to exchange and mine cryptocurrencies are “not a panacea”, said Lifchitz, “because any cryptocurrency can be traced, and operates on a public register that is open to law enforcement agencies. So it’s very easy to trace these funds when they change hands, when they change wallets or when they go on cryptocurrency exchanges on which they can be sold. So, all you have to do is prevent the exchanges”.

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