A prominent Toronto figure at the helm of a company specializing in cryptocurrency was kidnapped on Wednesday, and a crypto security expert is weighing in on why he was targeted.
Toronto police told Now Toronto on Friday that a male victim was forced into a vehicle by unknown suspects and held for ransom.
The victim was later located in Centennial Park without any injuries, investigators confirmed.
Dean Skurka, the president and CEO of Toronto-based financial firm WonderFi, identified himself as the victim in a statement on LinkedIn on Friday.
He was allegedly released following the electronic transfer of a $1 million ransom, CBC reported.
“I want to reassure everyone that I am safe and doing well. The investigation by Toronto Police into this incident is ongoing with my full cooperation,” Skurka wrote on LinkedIn, adding that WonderFi operations will not be slowed down by the incident.
WHY WAS HE TARGETED?
John Tinkelenberg, a spokesperson for U.S-based agency Casa, a company with expertise in protecting crypto currency users, said “executives and other high-profile individuals in the crypto industry are targeted for many of the same reasons other wealthy people are targeted.”
“Criminals assume well-known people in the industry have access to a lot of crypto and can be coerced. Most people don’t need to worry about this type of attack, but executives and influencers don’t always have robust protection,” he continued.
Because bitcoin is digital, it’s easier to move than a gold bar or painting, Tinkelenberg explained. But to complete a transfer, users require a private key that produces a “cryptographic signature.“
“If you use one key and keep it on your phone, a mugger can corner you and demand your bitcoin in the same way they can with the cash in your wallet,” Tinkelenberg said.
According to the firm, physical attacks on known figures in the crypto world have become increasingly common, especially in “bull markets” and when bitcoin is in the news.
Bitcoin hit a record high this week following the election of incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump, climbing above the $75,000 USD mark, and smashing its previous record of just over $73,000 USD, which was set back in March.
Jameson Lopp, co-founder and CTO of Casa, has been tracking attacks on prominent crypto figures for ten years.
According to Lopp’s log, in 2016 police arrested a group of Toronto teenagers in connection with multiple bitcoin-related robberies. In Ottawa in 2018, there was a failed attempt to break into the Canadian Bitcoin Exchange, and in Calgary in 2021 armed men forced their way into a residential home to steal cryptocurrency keys. There have also been incidents in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, MB, and Kelowna, B.C.
