The French police uncovered a case of property fraud related to encrypted assets. The two suspects were alleged to have deceived a couple about 1.5 million euros of encrypted assets in a fake villa deal. The investigation of the case lasted one year, and the police have detained two persons pending trial.

Suspect impersonating buyer middleman

According to the French media Var-Matin, the two men concerned were a mother and son and were arrested on 25 June in a rented house in Cavalaire-sur-Mer in southern France. According to the investigators, the two men were following a couple from Ramatuelle. The latter was listed in the spring of 2025 for the sale of a villa valued at approximately Euro10 million.

According to the police, the suspect claimed to represent a wealthy Italian buyer and invited the seller to Milan for negotiations. The so-called buyer made an offer at a meeting above the stated price, but required the seller to prove that it held sufficient encrypted assets to cover the transaction-related costs of approximately 1.5 million euros.

Milan's meeting was a turning point in the theft of funds.

According to French investigators, the second meeting in Milan was a key point in the case. The suspect requested access to the relevant encrypted wallet information on the basis of an asset verification.

The police suspect that they took the opportunity to distract the victim and photographed sensitive information about their wallets, including account details and private key information, using glasses with hidden cameras. According to the investigators, the suspect then quickly obtained wallet access and transferred the victim ' s encrypted assets.

  • About 1.5 million euros.
  • The victim's property is valued at about 10 million euros.
  • Total value of seized associated properties is about Euro1.9 million.

The court seized three related properties.

According to the police, the use of false identities by suspects and their frequent presence in France made the investigation more difficult. The two persons, who allegedly lived in the Paris area and had similar criminal convictions, denied the charges during their interrogation.

Currently, they are under judicial supervision and are scheduled to appear before the Criminal Court of Draginian on 1 September. The charges to be brought by the prosecution include organized fraud and failure to indicate the source of funding.

At the same time, the French courts have ordered the seizure of three Blue Coast properties related to the suspects, with a total value of approximately 1.9 million euros, pending the outcome of the case.

Increased number of attacks on French encrypted holders

Investigators classified the case as a traditional “rip deal” scam instead of a non-violent blackmail, but the case once again showed that criminals were turning traditional property fraud to encrypted asset holders.

The French system of internal affairs this week revealed that in 2026 France had recorded 77 cases of kidnapping, illegal detention, extortion or attempted kidnapping in connection with the encryption industry, up from 45 in 2025. The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, stated that the cases were serious in nature, but that the emergency security measures introduced over the past year had begun to bear fruit.

He also stated that law enforcement had arrested some 200 persons following attacks and preventive action, and that 724 industry participants had joined the French Immediate Identification Platform, an increase of 11 per cent.