Kidnappers Demand Ransom In Bitcoin

A criminal gang, which kidnapped a teenage boy on Sunday, is demanding a ransom in bitcoin cryptocurrency of nearly $120,000.

Police spokesperson, Leonard Hlathi said Katlego Marite, 13, was dragged into a car while playing with two friends near his home in Witbank.

The town is located in the eastern province of Mpumalanga in South Africa.

“They demanded that the family should deposit a sum of 15 bitcoins, not in rands,” he told news channel eNCA.

“(The parents) don’t even know what these bitcoins are. They are not dealing in those things. They are in tatters as we speak,” he said.

Although police in South Africa have reported a recent rise in kidnappings, the ransom demand in cryptocurrency appears to be a first in the country and possibly on the continent.