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It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy is a security concern. Which is unsurprising. It's almost like the crypto markets attr

by duped 2y ago

It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy is a security concern. Which is unsurprising. It's almost like the crypto markets attract criminals!

mschuster91 2y ago
> It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy is a security concern. Which is unsurprising. In Munich we have a serious problem with watch-robbers snatching people's expensive watches while driving on a motorcycle. Utterly insane but also utterly profitable if you have channels where to sell stolen watches.
- NotLongNow 2y ago
  [flagged]
- cogman10 2y ago
  I looked it up, these are like $100k->$500k watches being stolen. How often is that actually happening? Also, this seems like it could easily be an insurance scam. It seems just a little insane for someone to be casually walking around with a half million dollar watch on their wrist and some thief just happens to know "Hey, that looks like a half million dollar watch!"
  - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
    > How often is that actually happening? I mean if you can move that watch in a way that doesn't get you caught for 1/4 of it's retail price, twice a year, that's a decent salary. Doesn't need to happen all that much.
    - cogman10 2y ago
      Right, but that requires there to be an identifiable and large enough population of people wandering around with such watches on their wrists. I guess what I'm saying is I can understand a lot better how the "kia boyz" thing happened. There are a lot of easily identifiable kias everywhere. But luxury watches just seems so niche that it's hard to think someone stealing them would be a crime wave.
      - mschuster91 2y ago
        > But luxury watches just seems so niche that it's hard to think someone stealing them would be a crime wave. Well, you won't see that happening in a small village. Not enough people wearing expensive watches there. But in large cities with a huge amount of both domestic and foreign rich people it's bound to develop. As long as you have a good spotter able to determine if someone is wearing a watch worth barely a few hundred dollars (or less, knockoffs are a thing) or a legit 50k upwards luxury watch, it's one of the more profitable ways of criming: no weapons or drugs involved which tends to yield much harder sentencing in most jurisdictions, less chance of bystanders intervening like in a conventional robbery (most people don't even realize what has happened until they see the motorcycle speeding away), less chance of the victim fighting back or attracting help, almost no chance of getting caught on camera, and the stolen goods are innocuous to carry around - unlike with guns or drugs, if you get in a traffic control or whatnot, the chance that the cop will ask about the watch you're wearing is almost zero because your average cop has zero idea if you're wearing a 5000 dollars Rolex or a 50k dollars Rolex.
  - mschuster91 2y ago
    > How often is that actually happening? Often enough. One gang alone took 18 raids in about two years, making about 1.5 million euros [1] - it's about once a month the police actually bother to make a report. Even if one assumes they can get only half the price due to no heritage, 750k for 12 people tax-free, that's more than even experienced developers can net in a year. > It seems just a little insane for someone to be casually walking around with a half million dollar watch on their wrist and some thief just happens to know "Hey, that looks like a half million dollar watch!" That's the thing. Munich has a ton of luxury shops for obscenely rich tourists, a good scout is all it needs. Quite some victims actually didn't have insurance. [1] https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/banden-reissen-in-muenchen-uhren-vom-handgelenk-festnahme,UJGRl8q https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/banden-reissen-in-muenc...
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    What kind of idiot spends half a million dollars on a watch? Or even $100k?
    - sealeck 2y ago
      The kind with a lot of money, enough that $500k doesn't really register.
      - shiroiushi 2y ago
        Probably the kind that won't have a lot of money for long. Warren Buffet would never spend such a ridiculous amount of money on a watch.
        blackwateragent 2y ago
        > Warren Buffet would never spend such a ridiculous amount of money on a watch. He has apparently at least a 40k+ watch. [1] [1] https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3215841/most-expensive-watches-worlds-7-richest-billionaires-ranked-warren-buffetts-rolex-and-elon-musks https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3215841/...
        sfn42 2y ago
        The thing with a $500k watch is it keeps its value. It might even increase in value. So it's not a frivolous waste of money, you can get most of it back unless you break or lose it.
    - schmidtleonard 2y ago
      Rich people exist. If you think spending a million bucks on a watch makes someone an idiot, you have failed to internalize how rich a large number of rich people actually are.
      - mschuster91 2y ago
        Nevertheless it's one of the weirdest, most niche ways possible to flex wealth. Only true watch aficionados will be able to spot just how much money you had spent on that watch, but everyone can see how much the car you ride, your villa or private jet is worth.
- asveikau 2y ago
  I've heard of that in Europe for more than a decade, and started hearing it in San Francisco for about 2-3 years. The usual "SF is a hellhole" complainers act like it's unique to here.
samsin 2y ago
The same argument could be made for physical cash
- theamk 2y ago
  Well, yeah. Let's say someone has $100K in cash, in their home. What is their profession? All of the answers I can think of are criminal.
  - Loughla 2y ago
    I buy, restore, and sell woodworking and metalworking tools and vehicles. If I did it full time I could have that much on hand. I think I have like 25k in case a really good deal pops up, and it's a very side gig.
    - toyg 2y ago
      In which case you really shouldn't tell a public forum about it. Maybe it's my jaded European mindset, but - rich people have been a target since the dawn of civilization, flaunting wealth is a good way to attract attention from bad people.
      - Loughla 2y ago
        The chances of someone finding me through this public forum are very low. Following this username takes you to a person from Reddit who I am not. If you follow the clues in my posts, you'll narrow it down to a farmer who also works in colleges, and who lived in the Midwest at some point, but doesn't anymore, and whose parents live in an area of the world that is kind of arid. There's a lot of those type of people. I'm more concerned about locals finding out. That's why I don't talk about the cash I have on hand in my real life, ever. I feel like that's relatively easy to do?
    - duped 2y ago
      That's insane and irresponsible. There's a reason that you can't make large "cash" purchases in physical cash - even with a certified or cashier's check you're limited to under $50k total or $100k/day before getting into private banking where your limits are higher.
clown_strike 2y ago
[flagged]
- tmpz22 2y ago
  I'm not buying it. There are regulated and under/non-regulated financial institutions. Coinbase is regulated. Eastern European casino/crypto is under/non-regulated. Under/non-regulated financial institutions attract fraud and crime like software developers to an online news aggregate.
shkkmo 2y ago
> It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy Maybe for now. The cryptocurrenty ricb are lower hanging fruit for sure, but crypto also make other kinds of kidnapping easier so I doubt it will remain soley in that realm.
lern_too_spel 2y ago
"Be your own bank." Sure, then hire your own security guards.

by duped 2y ago

It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy is a security concern. Which is unsurprising. It's almost like the crypto markets attract criminals!

mschuster91 2y ago

> It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy is a security concern. Which is unsurprising. In Munich we have a serious problem with watch-robbers snatching people's expensive watches while driving on a motorcycle. Utterly insane but also utterly profitable if you have channels where to sell stolen watches.

NotLongNow 2y ago
[flagged]
cogman10 2y ago
I looked it up, these are like $100k->$500k watches being stolen. How often is that actually happening? Also, this seems like it could easily be an insurance scam. It seems just a little insane for someone to be casually walking around with a half million dollar watch on their wrist and some thief just happens to know "Hey, that looks like a half million dollar watch!"
- ToucanLoucan 2y ago
  > How often is that actually happening? I mean if you can move that watch in a way that doesn't get you caught for 1/4 of it's retail price, twice a year, that's a decent salary. Doesn't need to happen all that much.
  - cogman10 2y ago
    Right, but that requires there to be an identifiable and large enough population of people wandering around with such watches on their wrists. I guess what I'm saying is I can understand a lot better how the "kia boyz" thing happened. There are a lot of easily identifiable kias everywhere. But luxury watches just seems so niche that it's hard to think someone stealing them would be a crime wave.
    - mschuster91 2y ago
      > But luxury watches just seems so niche that it's hard to think someone stealing them would be a crime wave. Well, you won't see that happening in a small village. Not enough people wearing expensive watches there. But in large cities with a huge amount of both domestic and foreign rich people it's bound to develop. As long as you have a good spotter able to determine if someone is wearing a watch worth barely a few hundred dollars (or less, knockoffs are a thing) or a legit 50k upwards luxury watch, it's one of the more profitable ways of criming: no weapons or drugs involved which tends to yield much harder sentencing in most jurisdictions, less chance of bystanders intervening like in a conventional robbery (most people don't even realize what has happened until they see the motorcycle speeding away), less chance of the victim fighting back or attracting help, almost no chance of getting caught on camera, and the stolen goods are innocuous to carry around - unlike with guns or drugs, if you get in a traffic control or whatnot, the chance that the cop will ask about the watch you're wearing is almost zero because your average cop has zero idea if you're wearing a 5000 dollars Rolex or a 50k dollars Rolex.
- mschuster91 2y ago
  > How often is that actually happening? Often enough. One gang alone took 18 raids in about two years, making about 1.5 million euros [1] - it's about once a month the police actually bother to make a report. Even if one assumes they can get only half the price due to no heritage, 750k for 12 people tax-free, that's more than even experienced developers can net in a year. > It seems just a little insane for someone to be casually walking around with a half million dollar watch on their wrist and some thief just happens to know "Hey, that looks like a half million dollar watch!" That's the thing. Munich has a ton of luxury shops for obscenely rich tourists, a good scout is all it needs. Quite some victims actually didn't have insurance. [1] https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/banden-reissen-in-muenchen-uhren-vom-handgelenk-festnahme,UJGRl8q https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/banden-reissen-in-muenc...
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  What kind of idiot spends half a million dollars on a watch? Or even $100k?
  - sealeck 2y ago
    The kind with a lot of money, enough that $500k doesn't really register.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      Probably the kind that won't have a lot of money for long. Warren Buffet would never spend such a ridiculous amount of money on a watch.
      - blackwateragent 2y ago
        > Warren Buffet would never spend such a ridiculous amount of money on a watch. He has apparently at least a 40k+ watch. [1] [1] https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3215841/most-expensive-watches-worlds-7-richest-billionaires-ranked-warren-buffetts-rolex-and-elon-musks https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3215841/...
      - sfn42 2y ago
        The thing with a $500k watch is it keeps its value. It might even increase in value. So it's not a frivolous waste of money, you can get most of it back unless you break or lose it.
  - schmidtleonard 2y ago
    Rich people exist. If you think spending a million bucks on a watch makes someone an idiot, you have failed to internalize how rich a large number of rich people actually are.
    - mschuster91 2y ago
      Nevertheless it's one of the weirdest, most niche ways possible to flex wealth. Only true watch aficionados will be able to spot just how much money you had spent on that watch, but everyone can see how much the car you ride, your villa or private jet is worth.
asveikau 2y ago
I've heard of that in Europe for more than a decade, and started hearing it in San Francisco for about 2-3 years. The usual "SF is a hellhole" complainers act like it's unique to here.

samsin 2y ago

The same argument could be made for physical cash

theamk 2y ago
Well, yeah. Let's say someone has $100K in cash, in their home. What is their profession? All of the answers I can think of are criminal.
- Loughla 2y ago
  I buy, restore, and sell woodworking and metalworking tools and vehicles. If I did it full time I could have that much on hand. I think I have like 25k in case a really good deal pops up, and it's a very side gig.
  - toyg 2y ago
    In which case you really shouldn't tell a public forum about it. Maybe it's my jaded European mindset, but - rich people have been a target since the dawn of civilization, flaunting wealth is a good way to attract attention from bad people.
    - Loughla 2y ago
      The chances of someone finding me through this public forum are very low. Following this username takes you to a person from Reddit who I am not. If you follow the clues in my posts, you'll narrow it down to a farmer who also works in colleges, and who lived in the Midwest at some point, but doesn't anymore, and whose parents live in an area of the world that is kind of arid. There's a lot of those type of people. I'm more concerned about locals finding out. That's why I don't talk about the cash I have on hand in my real life, ever. I feel like that's relatively easy to do?
  - duped 2y ago
    That's insane and irresponsible. There's a reason that you can't make large "cash" purchases in physical cash - even with a certified or cashier's check you're limited to under $50k total or $100k/day before getting into private banking where your limits are higher.

clown_strike 2y ago

[flagged]

tmpz22 2y ago
I'm not buying it. There are regulated and under/non-regulated financial institutions. Coinbase is regulated. Eastern European casino/crypto is under/non-regulated. Under/non-regulated financial institutions attract fraud and crime like software developers to an online news aggregate.

shkkmo 2y ago

> It sounds more like being involved in crypto than being publicly wealthy Maybe for now. The cryptocurrenty ricb are lower hanging fruit for sure, but crypto also make other kinds of kidnapping easier so I doubt it will remain soley in that realm.

lern_too_spel 2y ago

"Be your own bank." Sure, then hire your own security guards.