Exmo manager/director, Pavel Lerner, was freed today by his abductors in Ukraine.
If you hadn't been following the news, Pavel Lerner was kidnapped on December 26th as he was leaving his office in Kiev's Obolon district.
As he was walking to his car he was dragged into a black Mercedes-Benz by men wearing black masks.
It wasn't immediately clear why they kidnapped him, but a ransom or possibly a theft by the abductors was suspected as the motivations, and it likely had to do with his involvement in cryptocurrency.
Who is Pavel Lerner?
Pavel Lerner is considered a prominent blockchain expert in Russia.
His role at Exmo was considered that of management, a director to be precise. Exmo was quick to stress that the nature of Pavel's job at Exmo "doesn't assume access either to storage or any personal data of users."
His kidnap came as quite a shock, especially to the clients of the Exmo exchange who were immediately worried that their funds could be at risk.
Exmo claimed at the time that Lerner had no access to customer accounts or personal data. All customer funds were absolutely safe no matter the outcome of the abduction, according to Exmo.
That is good to know considering Exmo has over 95k accounts currently trading cryptocurrencies on its exchange!
Returned at last!
According to media reports, Mr. Lerner was seen thrown out of a vehicle on a motorway by his kidnappers earlier today.
Today marks 3 days since he was originally abducted.
According to Exmo, Lerner is still under extreme emotional distress, and would not be talking to the media in the immediate future.
Surprisingly, he was said to be physically unharmed.
I guess when they threw him from the vehichle, he landed on some nice comfy blankets.
Damage control.
I would imagine Exmo is now grilling him trying to figure out exactly what he told the kidnappers.
The fear now is that they are threatening to harm his family or friends if he does not give them what they want.
Likely a very tough position for Mr. Lerner to be in.
For all their clients sake and everyone involved, hopefully the investigation goes smoothly and they are able to find the people that did this and make sure they are not able to steal any people's funds.
Glad he was returned mostly unharmed.
I would not be surprised to hear about stuff like this happening a lot more in the near future with the amount of money these people are potentially involved with the potentially anonymous nature of getting it.
Brings out all kinds.
Stay informed my friends.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42518235
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42505261
Image Sources:
https://www.ccn.com/turkish-police-bust-bitcoin-extortionists-who-netted-3-54-million-from-victims/
https://cryptocrimson.com/exmo-cryptocurrency-exchange-director-kidnapped-ukraine/
Follow me: @jrcornel
If I was a crypto millionaire I would be paranoid AF about this. Would be so easy for someone to put a gun to your head and force you to hand over a crypto wallet or transfer all their coins. Way easier to make the money disappear. I bet kidnappers will only be taking take crypto in the future. Who has a solution to this?
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The poor guy was forced to pay a $1 million ransom in btc.
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Where did you find this? I hadn't heard that...
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That's too much money 💰, one good thing is proceeds of illegalities are never ever useful no matter how big.
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this is so stunning to think what these guys would do for a little crypto this just goes to show how desperate people can be i hope he is alright.
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a million dollars XD.
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Wow, that is horrible! I hate to hear anyone being a victim of crimes such as these and I am sure the fella is traumatized. It's sad to see so many people that will do anything because of their greed.
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Hi ,
Thanks for sharing
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That's not how ransomware is supposed to work!
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That's why you don't talk about your crypto profits.
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Preach
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Damn. It's like the crypto world meets a James Bond movie.
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Nice post sir. Your post is always helpful for us. Thanks for sharing with us sir. Advance happy new year 2018 sir....
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News is horrendous, a Manager who can be kidnapped after his release, What is the motive behind all this. thank you for sharing about the abduction of the manager.🙏
@jrcornrl
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Not even bitcoin is safe from crime
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That's insane. I am glad that he was returned!
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owww nice blog thank you !!
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Exmo Bitcoin exchange manager freed by kidnappers http://ift.tt/2C8Zj3e Exmo has confirmed that Pavel Lerner is safe after reports that he was thrown out of a car. December 29, 2017 at 08:35AM
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Bitcoin is my favorite site I always want Bitcoin's rate above because it is an important part of our steemit members
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Thanks for this post
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Nice post..Thanks for information :)
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That's scary... wonder if he gave up his own private keys to be released?
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I hate to be a sleuth about this; but, I'm sure some are looking at his potential for being on the side of the masked bandits...1M in BTC?...Whew.
Besides, if people with a fraction of his wealth have armed body guards 24/7, why would a man of this wealth be walking solo, especially linked to such a high commodity...not to mention, around the holidays.
Btw, great write up.
Peace.
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its a dangerous world, those men could have been theives, mrecenaries or government agents. It looks like they need to beef up security and Mr. Lerner should step down since he is already compromised.
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Anyone who could be controlling vast amounts of funds must be at risk of something like this. This is why we ought to be the only ones controlling our wallets. Don't keep more in an exchange than you have to. Just see how many have been compromised. Anyway, I hope he's able to recover from this experience. It must be terrifying.
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💙 Great post. Very good writing,i like this post 💙
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Very scary. But it was bound to happen. If i was in exmo, i would pull al my money from it. I think they got some pretty good information to just let him go. Not looking good for exmo at the minute. But its good to see he is ok
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Interesting :)
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information is very much awaited people ,, thanks
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Wow!
I had no idea that this had happened.
Thanks for sharing this story.
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If you want a fast release coin pay your ransom in litecoin. This poor guy was held three days, probably because it took so long to confirm his BTC ransom
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extraordinary
best regards to friendship steemit
guide us so we like you ..
I am still a steemit beginner
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First comment :)
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It's not reddit! This became the last comment as it got downvoted while better comments were upvoted.
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