StellarCrowandClaude Fable 5.1
499fd61f79
Until now only cases 357+ (plus a few older ones) had their linked URLs fetched; the other 252 dossiers held just the text pasted into the spreadsheet, often only the lede. This pass fetches every linked URL for those cases so the full text is on file before link rot takes it. - stage_all.py: new --include-sheet-cases flag that lifts the skip on cases holding spreadsheet articles. Resumable as before. - staging/: raw extracts and index.json for the 252 cases. - sourced-articles.json, case-files-manifest.json: 188 new UNTRIMMED blocks. 179 cases gained at least one fetched article; 73 got none (49 BLOCKED, 18 THIN, 9 DEAD, 4 video/social, 3 ERROR). - sources/*.txt: rebuilt with build_cases.py --all. Sheet pastes are kept; fetched blocks sit beside them under the NOT YET TRIMMED banner. Files previously committed with CRLF are now LF. - wayback-availability.json: Wayback snapshots exist for 73 of the 98 failed URL slots; input for an archive-fetch pass. - README-START-HERE.md: progress note and next step. verify_all.py PASSES (1836 checks). Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GZZENdTLzNGsbNy4DyF1yt
154 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
154 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
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CASE 167 | Binance Client | November 10, 2023 | Montenegro
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DATABASE RECORD
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id 167
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date November 10, 2023
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original_date November 10, 2023
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year 2023
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month 11
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quarter 2023-Q4
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victim Binance Client
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location Montenegro
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country Montenegro
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scenario Malicious Invitation - SocialEng
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description Executives lured into fake business trip, kidnapped, forced to empty wallets of $12M USDT.
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kidnappings 0
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violence_torture 0
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drugs_alcohol 0
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weapons 0
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theft 0
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life_taken 0
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money_wanted (null)
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coin_type (null)
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reports MH
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notes (null)
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has_processed_date 1
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created_at 2025-11-13 05:44:45
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AI SUMMARY [generated at bulk import, NOT verified against sources]
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**Victim:** Binance Client
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**Attackers:** Known associate(s) who betrayed victim
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**Attack Method:** Malicious Invitation - SocialEng
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**Violence Used:** Threats/intimidation
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**Crypto Stolen:** No theft completed
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**Status:** Investigation ongoing
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LINKED SOURCES
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[url] https://mugglehead.com/binance-client-executives-robbed-of-12-5-million-while-on-vacation/
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NOTES ON THIS FILE
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* matched to sheet row 168: exact match on victim + year, unique on both sides
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ARTICLE 1
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Source MH
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URL https://mugglehead.com/binance-client-executives-robbed-of-12-5-million-while-on-vacation/
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Origin reported_K&R sheet, row 168, column "Articles"
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Length 835 chars
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Executives of a VIP client of crypto exchange Binance were tricked and kidnapped in Montenegro during an alleged “business trip” in which they had to compulsorily comply with the thugs’ demands by emptying their crypto wallets. The stolen funds amounted to $12.5 million. Binance was able to track the on-chain movement of the loot and managed to block up to 94% of the sum. $11.8 million was freed in USDT and safely returned to a Tron wallet.
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Binance Customer Support said on X the exchange’s standard procedure for stolen funds depends on the information provided. Maintaining an asset freeze on stolen assets required a police report within seven days after first contact with the exchange’s support department. Although, Binance could extend the freeze on a case-by-case basis if extra time were required to get the police report.
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FETCHED ARTICLE 1 [RAW EXTRACT — NOT YET TRIMMED]
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!! This is the whole page as extracted. It still contains site furniture,
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!! and may contain teaser headlines for UNRELATED cases. Trim on read-through.
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!! Do not quote from it without checking the passage belongs to this case.
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Source mugglehead.com
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URL https://mugglehead.com/binance-client-executives-robbed-of-12-5-million-while-on-vacation/
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Field url
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Retrieved 2026-09-05T12:51:04+00:00 via raw HTTP retrieval, deterministic extraction (HTTP 200)
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Language unknown
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Kept paragraphs ALL 36 paragraphs, untrimmed
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Length 7,336 chars
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Integrity sha256 6bd0c0e01ebcb0111f62ee9703af731cd19abc38fe2e346770590d15055ab453
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Trimmed NOT TRIMMED. Full page extract; trim on read-through.
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Caveat retrieved from a live page on the date above. Unlike text copied
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from the spreadsheet, there is no second copy to hash it against.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)
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Binance client executives robbed of USD$12.5 million while on a business trip to Montenegro - Mugglehead Investment Magazine
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Hi, what are you looking for?
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The city of Kotor in Montenegro. Image from Desemeus via Wikimedia Commons.
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Executives of a Binance client were abducted while on a business trip in Montenegro and forced to empty their cryptocurrency wallets with a total loss of USD$12.5 million.
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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said via X that Binance immediately investigated the on-chain activities of the crypto transactions and reached out to its partners to freeze the wallet with stolen funds. He revealed that all the funds were taken in tether (USDT) and transferred to a Tron wallet.
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Binance managed to freeze about USD$11.8 million, or 94.4 per cent of the total stolen.
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When asked if crypto is better than fiat currencies kept in banks if your crypto wallet can be frozen, Zhao said it’s a balance with no perfect balance point.
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“If you use XMR, then there isn’t much anyone can do (or to help you with), as far as I know. Bitcoin can be traced, but not frozen, until you send it to a CEX [centralized exchange].”
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Binance Customer Support said on X the exchange’s standard procedure for stolen funds depends on the information provided. Maintaining an asset freeze on stolen assets required a police report within seven days after first contact with the exchange’s support department. Although, Binance could extend the freeze on a case-by-case basis if extra time were required to get the police report.
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Last week, Binance launched a Web3 wallet with the aim of reducing the barrier for self-custody. The cryptocurrency exchange characterized its new Web3 wallet as a self-custody crypto wallet integrated into the Binance app.
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A user’s private keys are reduced to three parts called keyshares, with two of the three shares in users control while the third remains with the exchange. The purpose of the design is to make the Web3 wallet self-custodial.
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Custody issues are among crypto’s oldest problems
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The theft has brought custodial issues in cryptocurrency back into conversation.
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Issues surrounding custodianship of cryptocurrency are one of crypto’s oldest problems. They’re encapsulated in the common idiom “not your keys, not your crypto” which indicates that investors cannot have certainty over their crypto holdings unless they personally control the keys to the wallet where they are stored.
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In this case, it’s in Binance and other exchange’s abilities to freeze assets granted in trust to them by their customers. In most other cases, it’s what happens to the assets when the cryptocurrency declares bankruptcy, or gets hacked. With one or two exceptions, there is no insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other option for exchanges like there are for banks.
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For example, FTX held onto users’ wallets and keys, which meant controlling access to funds depended on the exchange’s ability to send it, which became complicated when the exchange developed a liquidity crisis. It’s a common theme throughout cryptocurrency with Canada’s own Quadriga CX enduring much the same problem when its owner Gerald Cotten died from complications of Crohn’s Disease while on vacation in 2017, leaving investors unable to access their funds.
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Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance. Image from Binance.
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As cryptocurrency adoption has become more mainstream, many individuals who prefer not to deal with the technical complexities of managing their own wallet are relying on third-party services such as exchanges or investment managers that allow them to invest in crypto without requiring them to learn how to use a self-custody wallet.
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However, this means that the intermediary holds control over the keys to their holdings.
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According to proponents of the “not your keys” philosophy, a wallet on a centralized exchange does not genuinely belong to the account holder. When centralized exchanges, like FTX or Quadriga CX or Binance, halt withdrawals, users lose access to their crypto. In the event of a catastrophic event, be it the collapse of an exchange or a cyberattack, those holdings could be permanently lost.
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.
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In this article:Binance, Bitcoin, Changpeng Zhao, cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency exchange, CZ, FDIC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FTX, Gerald Cotten, Quadriga CX, web3
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The SEC and US authorities have been relentlessly targeting CZ and Binance over the past few years. What concerns me is the fact that the US authorities did not use the same extremely aggressive approach, tactics and investigation against FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried (until too late) and even after SBF violated his release conditions. Why such difference in treatment? Maybe the fact that Sam Bankman-Fried has US government connections with Gary Gensler through his parents (MIT) and girlfriend Caroline Ellison? The American justice system so far has treated Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX more favorably than CZ & Binance. But this won’t destroy Binance and won’t eliminate their dominant market position – something US authorities have been trying very hard to accomplish. Therefore, CZ used a smart tactic and listened to his lawyers and decided to plead guilty, pay the US fines and preserve Binance as a strong, viable business player in the crypto market. Very smart move and finally new chapter will open in the crypto universe. With the US authorities not pursuing any legal actions against the exchange, it will facilitate Binance’s further growth and help the overall crypto mass adoption. The future is bright and there is tons of new development and progress within the blockchain tech. The next bull run 2025-2026 (assuming all else equal and no more scandals or USDT liquidity issues), with take these hard facts into consideration and it will be the stepping stone for the Wall Street institutions to enter the crypto space via Bitcoin ETFs. Ethereum ETFs, etc. ETFs are coming and that’s why the US and Binance had to settle this fight. It’s great news for the crypto world! With EU’s MiCA Act in action, the US looks like set to develop (in near future) a standard-universal legal framework for the crypto, where all government agencies will be in agreement whether a crypto coin is a utility or a security…
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Microduck robot waddles its way into spotlight with massive sales
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Google launches limited edition Pokémon Sleep-themed Fitbit Air
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Murder charges laid after late night cannabis facility explosion kills two
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Faulty website documentation could trick artificial intelligence agents into installing malware
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Revolution’s newly approved drug doubles pancreatic cancer survival time
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Trezor breach raises physical security concerns for crypto holders
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Criminals have increasingly targeted cryptocurrency owners through attacks extending beyond online scams and hacking
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Crypto treasury stocks regain momentum as market value reaches USD$340B
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Investors accept the added corporate and financing risks because leverage can magnify gains during a rising market
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Oklahoma data center leak drains 3 million gallons, closes schools
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City documents reported by KOCO identified several previous safety problems at the property
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Bitmine Ethereum holdings reach 4.9 per cent of total ETH supply
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Bitmine holds 211 Bitcoin and USD$541 million in cash and marketable securities
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================================================================================================
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generated from attacks-export-Gart-website.json + reported_K&R | case 167
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================================================================================================
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