Fake delivery driver targets French crypto worker in armed home invasion

A man posing as a delivery driver allegedly tried to extort a crypto investor at gunpoint in a suburb of Montpellier, in what local media describe as the first reported crypto-motivated home invasion in France’s Hérault region.

According to French outlet Actu.fr, the suspect gained access to the family home in Saint-Jean-de-Védas on April 11, pulled out a handgun and forced the parents and their children into a room before the father overpowered him during a struggle in which a shot was fired.

No one was injured, and investigators from the Montpellier research section of the Gendarmerie later identified and arrested a 25-year-old suspect, who has since been charged and remanded in custody while police examine whether he acted alone.

The case comes amid a surge in so-called “wrench attacks,” in which criminals use threats or violence to force crypto holders to hand over funds or seed phrases, bypassing digital safeguards. France has emerged as one of the countries worst hit by these assaults, with at least 41 crypto-linked kidnappings and home invasions so far this year.

France emerges as wrench attack epicenter

France’s wrench attack incidents amount to roughly one every 2.5 days, after such attacks jumped 75% in 2025 to 72 global cases in a single year and millions of dollars in confirmed losses, with France recording the highest number for a single country.

Related: Crypto execs ramp up security as wrench attacks increase

French tech outlet Generation-NT reported on Tuesday that, beyond victims’ social media footprints, police and cybersecurity specialists increasingly suspect some gangs are compiling target lists from leaked customer data, giving them information on who holds significant crypto and where they live.