Why Bitcoin ransom demand for Savannah Guthrie’s mom, 84, might be her kidnappers’ Achilles heel
Demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin for the safe release of Nancy Guthrie could be a massive blunder for any kidnapper, a crypto currency crime expert has claimed.
Criminals frequently believe that the digital equivalent of a bag stuffed with bills will be safer than having to make a risky pick-up possibly monitored by law enforcement, Bezalel Eithan Raviv told the Daily Mail.
But instead of revealing a degree of sophistication as crooks look for smarter ways to get away with extortion, it can be the ultimate Achilles Heel, he added.
Raviv, a former member of the Israel Defense Forces’ elite 8200 intelligence unit, said: ‘The ultimate goal of extortion or kidnap gangs is to turn that crypto into hard cash and enjoy the money.’
The founder of Lionsgate Network, which smashes crypto crimes around the world, added: ‘But crypto currencies leave a trail, and you cannot edit it, you cannot delete, it’s transparent.
‘And you cannot keep moving it digitally forever. At some point you need to cash it out. That will reflect in a transaction in a bank. And that’s where it will get noticed, and that’s where criminals can be caught.’
Raviv disclosed the techniques used to catch extortion gangs as it was revealed that a chilling ransom note demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for the mom of NBC Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie set a time of 5pm Thursday.
Officers at a press conference in Tucson, Arizona, said the note has not been verified as legitimate, but is being taken ‘very seriously’ as a lead.
If the ransom note demanding $1 million in Bitcoin for Nancy Guthrie’s safe return is legitimate, the kidnappers could leave a massive digital trail that becomes their undoing
Cryptocurrency crime expert Bezalel Eithan Raviv said criminals frequently assume digital cash is safer than a risky in‑person pickup that may be under law enforcement surveillance
Officers at a press conference in Tucson, Arizona, said the note has not been verified as legitimate, but is being taken very seriously as a lead and all tips are being passed to detectives coordinating with the FBI
Investigators said the ransom did not include a proof of life or a way for the Guthrie family to make contact.
But it did set a secondary deadline for Monday for them to meet the demands in Bitcoin for the safe return of the 84-year-old, who was abducted Sunday from her $1million home in the affluent Catalina Hills neighborhood.
Raviv revealed one way of tracking the Bitcoin is for specialist companies working with law enforcement to insert ‘probes’ into the transactions being followed, which can reveal a switch of the currency in just nine seconds.
‘That means it doesn’t matter how far this crypto money migrates, at some point it will transparently break cover,’ he said. ‘The moment that happens the criminals are vulnerable.
‘We’ve seen a spike around the number of ransom demands now insisting on crypto. But criminals believe crypto gives them invisibility. Whereas for companies like ours, it’s exactly the opposite.’
He said he could not comment on how federal agencies would be monitoring any crypto handed over for Nancy if that ever happened. ‘I’m not sure what they’re going to do, but we speak on a regular basis with Homeland Security, the Secret Service, the CIA and the FBI’, he added.
Despite the tracking, criminals can take advantage if law enforcement is slow off the mark in monitoring any movements, Raviv said.
‘Some law enforcement is very weak when it comes to crypto incidents. They don’t properly understand this is the new money and this provides gangs with a new way to target people.’
The ransom note set a secondary deadline of Monday for the kidnappers to deliver their Bitcoin demand for the safe return of the 84-year-old, abducted Sunday from her $1 million home in Tucson’s upscale Catalina Hills neighborhood
Nancy Guthrie was abducted from the home she has lived in for more than 50 years
Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, went for a drive Tuesday. When asked if Nancy’s son-in-law, 50, the last person to see her alive, was a suspect, authorities declined to comment
One of Raviv’s most notable triumphs was helping with the seizure of $100million of crypto held by terror group Hamas following the October 7 attacks on Israel.
Of the Guthrie case, he said: ‘If this is a real claim, I think what we can learn from this unfortunate story is that people are feeling very brave about targeting individuals and asking for digital money.’
TMZ has reported that the ransom note demanded the Bitcoin be sent to a specific crypto address, which it said it has verified as existing. It also contained chilling details of what Nancy was wearing at the time of her abduction.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at the Thursday press conference: ‘We believe Nancy is still out there… we want her home.’
He revealed a sweep of her home found that a doorbell camera disconnected in the dead of night around the time she disappeared early Sunday.
Nanos said the camera disconnected at 1.47am, but at 2.12am a person or possible an animal was detected by the camera’s sensors.
Nancy’s pacemaker app to track her heartbeat cut off from her phone’s Bluetooth at 2.28am, he added.
He said no suspects or persons of interests have been identified, but added he had ‘not ruled anyone out’ as a possible abductor.
Nanos was directly asked if Nancy’s son-in-law Thommaso Cioni, 50, was a suspect and refused to be drawn.
Cioni, married to Savannah’s 56-year-old sister Annie, was previously said by Nanos to have driven Nancy home from the couple’s $650,000 house four miles away after she spent Saturday evening there.
However, on Thursday the sheriff would only say a Guthrie family member drove her.
