Crypto scam: he steals his company with a fake Kbis and demands 17,000 euros in cryptocurrency

Coin Encyclopedia Improve your knowledge of cryptos

Crypto extortion usually involves kidnapping or home-jacking in France. This started with a simple document filed with the registry.

Mélanie Garcia runs Occitanie Sports Loisirs, a company based in Saint-Orens-de-Gameville. On September 10, she checked from her car if she had won a public contract.

According to the story published on November 3 by La Dépêche du Midi, an unknown person filed false minutes of the general meeting at the beginning of August. The document imitates his signature and records the transfer of his shares to the usurper. The registry recorded it.

The registry controls the form of a document, not its authenticity. All Kbis fraud is based on this flaw. The Kbis is the registration certificate which serves as an identity card for a company.

The new “manager” then took control of the company’s online banking. He had his mail forwarded, sent out funding requests and created a domain name. The manager says she can't even quantify her losses.

Mélanie Garcia filed a complaint for forgery and use of forgery upon discovery. The police have the name and address of the suspect, written on the documents modified for his benefit. He lives in another region and has still not been arrested.

Nearly two months later, the usurper turned to extortion. He wrote her threatening emails, called her, mentioned her children and distributed her address. His request is contained in one line: “17,000 euros in cryptocurrency”.

Why cryptos? A bank transfer designates an identifiable beneficiary, while a wallet only displays an address. The scammer forgets a detail.

Each transaction remains recorded on the blockchain. Investigators regularly trace these flows to the exchange platforms, which are required to identify their customers.

On the civil justice side, the manager obtained a summary hearing before the commercial court on October 30. This emergency procedure can suspend the effects of the fraudulent transfer. It does not cancel it: this will require action on the merits.

No decision is expected before November 20, and the suspect is still at large. Extortion in cryptocurrencies is increasing in France, where the police have carried out a vast operation against a criminal network after new kidnappings.

Falling down the white rabbit hole in 2017, I went from avid reader to Editor-in-Chief of Journal du Coin. I like to get involved behind the scenes of projects to bring my vision of a decentralized future. A lover of beautiful letters, I coordinate our teams to transform technical complexity into human, precise information without unnecessary jargon. Between entrepreneurship and writing, my mission is clear: popularize tomorrow, but do it today.

Machine-translated from French