According to BlockBeats, on September 5, Protos reported that a 19-year-old Singaporean cryptocurrency trader was ambushed by two men when he tried to exchange 32,000 Singapore dollars (about 24,000 US dollars) for USDT. They punched him and chased him through a nearby shopping mall, forcing him to abandon the face-to-face transaction.
The teenager, known only as “ZK,” was attacked by two men while meeting a cryptocurrency seller in a parking lot on August 29. ZK said the two men looked like “ordinary pedestrians” as the transaction was taking place, and one of them suddenly punched him in the left face as they passed by.
Fearing that the men were going to rob him of his cash, ZK said he immediately ran to a nearby shopping mall and shouted for help. The two men then chased him, but ZK said he managed to shake them off and reported the incident to the police.
The transaction was made via Telegram, with ZK explaining that although he had never traded with the seller before, he decided to go ahead with it because he needed USDT and the seller was the only one who contacted him.
He also said that he wanted to buy USDT in person because it would save on transaction fees. He explained: “With my trading frequency, it is unreasonable to bear the transaction fees and other expenses.”
The two initially agreed to meet at a public mall, where ZK would hand over the cash to the seller, who would in turn send USDT directly to his wallet. However, the seller changed the location at the last minute to a nearby parking lot.
Singapore police reportedly arrested two men, aged 20 and 21, in connection with the attempted robbery.
