A businessman and his heavily pregnant wife were subjected to a horrific ordeal in their Solihull home when masked intruders broke in and used brutal violence to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency. The victim, referred to as James, was beaten with hammers across his head, face, and ribs during a forty five minute assault while his wife, then seven months pregnant, was pinned to a sofa and suffocated with a pillow. In a chilling display of coordination, the attackers were guided by an accomplice via a live FaceTime call who directed them to search James’s phone for digital wallets.
The situation turned desperate when the remote coordinator threatened to stab the woman in the stomach and kill their unborn baby if the funds were not transferred immediately. Terrified for his family’s lives, James complied with the demands, sending his entire life savings to the criminal’s digital wallet. Along with the cryptocurrency, the gang stole several luxury Rolex watches before fleeing in a getaway car. Despite the extreme stress of the attack, the couple shared that their baby eventually survived and was born at full term.
Security experts describe this incident as a wrench attack, a growing trend where criminals target high net worth cryptocurrency investors through physical coercion rather than digital hacking. Because crypto assets are often stored in self custody wallets without the institutional safeguards of traditional banks, they have become lucrative targets for organized crime gangs globally. Researchers note that these attacks have surged recently in countries like France and the United States as criminals find ways to locate wealthy holders through data breaches or social engineering.
Police are currently investigating the robbery using home security footage, though no arrests have been made. Crimestoppers has offered a ten thousand pound reward for any information leading to the capture of the suspects, describing them as members of an organized crime group likely in their late teens or early twenties. Having lost everything he built since starting investing in 2020, James says he is returning to traditional employment and hopes his harrowing experience warns others that these physical risks are very real.