French police have arrested two suspected fraudsters accused of stealing around $1.8 million in crypto assets from a wealthy couple during a fake villa sale after a year-long investigation.
summary
- French police have arrested a mother and son accused of stealing €1.5 million in cryptocurrencies during the sale of a fake villa.
- Investigators allege the suspects used hidden camera glasses to capture wallet credentials and drain the victims’ money.
- The case comes as France reports a continued rise in cryptocurrency-related crimes, including kidnappings and extortion.
According to the French newspaper Var-Matin, the French police are part of the gendarmerie in Gassin-Saint-Tropez Arrested Mother and son on June 25 at a rented villa in Cavalier-sur-Mer. The couple are accused of organizing a complex “fraud deal” that targeted a couple from Ramatuelle who put their villa, worth about 10 million euros (about 12 million dollars), on the market in the spring of 2025.
According to the report, the suspects presented themselves as intermediaries working for a wealthy Italian buyer and invited the sellers to Milan for negotiations. There, the supposed buyer allegedly offered to pay more than the asking price but requested proof that the sellers could cover €1.5 million ($1.8 million) of costs related to transactions through the crypto asset before completing the purchase.
How the alleged cryptocurrency theft was carried out
French investigators said the second meeting in Milan became the turning point in the plot. According to the Gendarmerie in Gassin-Saint-Tropez, the suspects asked to verify the existence of the requested crypto assets before proceeding with the transaction.
Investigators believe the pair secretly obtained the victims’ wallet information by distracting them while using hidden cameras built into a pair of glasses to capture sensitive wallet credentials. Authorities claimed that the suspects gained access to account details and private security keys before immediately depleting their cryptocurrency holdings.
After what the gendarmerie described as a long and complex investigation, officers identified the suspects despite their use of false identities and frequent travel through France. The defendants, who are said to live in the Paris region and have previous criminal records for similar crimes, denied the allegations during police questioning.
The suspects have been placed under judicial supervision and are scheduled to appear before the Draguina Criminal Court on September 1. They face charges including organized fraud and failure to justify financial resources.
Meanwhile, French courts ordered the confiscation of three properties on the Côte d’Azur linked to the suspects with a total value of €1.9 million pending the outcome of the case.
France is facing a continuing rise in cryptocurrency-related crimes
Although investigators classified the incident as a classic “fraud deal” and not a violent cryptocurrency extortion case, the alleged theft comes as France continues to record a growing number of crimes targeting digital asset holders.
Earlier this week, as I mentioned Via crypto.news, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said authorities recorded 77 cases involving kidnapping, illegal detention, extortion or attempted crimes linked to the cryptocurrency sector in 2026, up from 45 cases in 2025.
Nunez told industry representatives that these incidents were “serious matters,” while he said emergency security measures implemented over the past year were beginning to pay off. He also said that nearly 200 people had been arrested following attacks or pre-emptive operations, while 724 industry participants had registered for France’s instant identification platform, an increase of 11%.
Separately, cryptocurrency journalist Joe Nakamoto previously said, as reported by crypto.news, that France accounts for approx. 70% of reported physical assaults Against cryptocurrency holders and their families.
Nakamoto also reported 41 cryptocurrency-related kidnappings in the country so far in 2026, with an average of roughly one incident every two and a half days. Its figures describe so-called “crypto-key attacks,” where criminals use violence, threats, kidnapping or home invasions to force victims or their relatives to give up access to digital assets.
While Ramatuelle’s case relied on deception rather than physical coercion, investigators say it shows how criminals are adapting traditional real estate fraud schemes to target cryptocurrency owners.
