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The wife of one of Norway's wealthiest businessmen, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hage, has been kidnapped and her kidnappers are currently asking for a sum of 9 million euros for Monero's encrypted currency (XMR).
Application for Monero in Rapimento
Hagen, who is one of Norway's richest billionaires, is the 172st richest man in the country. It is believed that his wife was abducted from their family home in Fjellhamar. Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, 68, has disappeared since October of last year and the news was kept under strict control, as the police treated him as a case of kidnapping, according to reports from the Norwegian newspaper Romerikes Blad.
After being quiet for several weeks, the kidnappers finally made contact through a written note left in the house. In the note, the kidnappers of Hagen would have requested about 9 million euros of payment through the currency of the cryptocurrency, Monero, which is known for its privacy. Subsequently, threats were made against Hagen's health if the issue was shared with the police or the media; the extra reason why the police are cautiously refusing to share more information with the public or the media.
The encrypted currency, Monero, which is becoming increasingly popular among cybercriminals and kidnappers, was obviously chosen in this particular case of its privacy and anti-tracking properties.
Bitcoin Dropped for Monero in Underworld
While bitcoin (BTC) became famous among criminal criminals and criminals in the first half of the decade after its inception, many technological researches were conducted to track digital records to warn shady business exchanges before they are completed. This forced the actors of illicit activities to turn to "safer" means of exploitation.
Monero's intense focus on ensuring anonymity and protecting customer privacy has been a positive development for criminals in general. Now cyber criminals and kidnappers have abandoned BTC for the privacy of Monero and its adaptable implementation in the phones for burners. In 2017, ransomware cases exploded on the Internet, while cybercriminals attacked thousands of WordPress sites all at once, asking for monies to Monero. Analytical companies such as Chainalysis, which has devoted resources to monitoring digital assets and criminal activities, have not found any success with Monero as they have found with BTC. Another altcoin, Zcash, who was a favorite of the criminals, is becoming less popular than Monero, while Monero maintains his rigid privacy.
Questioned last year, Riccardo Spagni, one of the main developers of Monero, said that the company is in no way to support the criminal activities that Monero is becoming famous.
"If you have a decentralized currency, it's not like you can prevent someone from using it." I guess the monero offers huge advantages to criminals over bitcoins, so they would use the monero, "he said.
