“Terror” group demands ransom in the form of Bitcoin

According to recent reports, “terrorists” are now taking ransom in the form of Bitcoin. Businessmen and women in Amsterdam have been the latest to fall victim to terrorists demanding ransom in the form of Bitcoin. An unknown terror group is demanding approximately 9 BTC, 50,000 euros, from the business community in Amsterdam else there will be mass shootings. Reports from a local media outlet, NLTimes say that the demands were made via email to a number of business owners in Amsterdam.

The local Dutch authorizes have since condemned the act and launched an investigation into the matter. This is not the first time that the unknown terror group has threatened the local business community. Earlier in the year, threatening messages were sent to a local club and three cafes.

The terrorist group is taking advantage of recently passed by-laws. The recent by-laws force businesses that have experienced a bombing or shooting to shut their operations. The threats cited this and advised business owners to take action immediately and pay the ransom to avoid shut down by the municipality.

The demands

The message instructed the business owners to open an account on either Coinbase or Coinmama, (fiat-to-crypto platforms), spend the 50,000 Euros on BTC and then send it to an undisclosed address.

According to reports by AT5, a Dutch TV network, the terrorists threatened to double the ransom weekly. “If we fail to receive 100,000 Euros within 5 days, we will ensure that your businesses close,” read the terror note. It went on to further read, “We will throw grenades o your front doors and spray bullets on your faces.”

The group also instructed the business owners to keep the matter confidential or else they would raise the ransom price by 100,000 euros. They also threatened to plan multiple attacks if local law enforcement authorities were involved.

“The threats are terrifying, but the business owners I have talked to so far are unfazed by the threats,” remarked Maurice Veldman, a local lawyer working on the case. He went on to further add, “No bitcoin ransoms have been paid yet and we are closely following this matter together with local authorities.”

The group was yet to send more threats or make good of any of their threats at the time of reporting.