Overview
- Three masked intruders forced entry into a Smith's Wood, Solihull home on December 13, 2025, beat the man, threatened his seven‑month‑pregnant wife, and coerced him to transfer hundreds of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency.
- The attackers took live directions from a fourth accomplice on a video call who told them to search the victim's phone and identify the wallet holding large funds.
- West Midlands Police confirmed the woman was threatened with a knife and said the gang stole several Rolex watches before fleeing in a car believed to be a black BMW X3.
- Crimestoppers has released CCTV, is offering up to £10,000 for information that leads to arrest and conviction, and police say the investigation remains active with no public arrests to date.
- Security firms and researchers describe the raid as a 'wrench attack'—a violent, in‑person tactic that bypasses digital safeguards and leaves transfers effectively irreversible, prompting advice such as multisignature wallets, time‑locks, and limiting public disclosure of holdings.