WonderFi’s Dean Skurka Released from Kidnap After $1M Ransom

Dean Skurka, the CEO and president at Canadian crypto firm WonderFi, was recently kidnapped and ransomed in less than 24 hours through a $1 million electronic transfer to the abductors. Here’s how it happened.

Details of Abduction

Investigation revealed that Skurka was kidnapped around University Avenue and Richmond Street West, a facility in the country’s capital, Toronto. The WonderFi CEO was forced into a vehicle and moved to an unknown location. The Toronto Police Service was notified of the kidnap before 6 PM EST on November 6th.

After requesting a ransom to aid Skurka’s release, the kidnappers received an electronic transfer of $1 million. Within 24 hours, the victim was released and located in Centennial Park in Etobicoke, 20 km away from where he was abducted.

While acknowledging via email that he was involved in an “incident,” the WonderFi CEO explained that he did not reveal customers’ data to malicious actors and that clients’ funds were unaffected by the incident.

The local police stated that investigations are still ongoing.

Not the First

This is not the first time a prominent figure within the crypto space has been kidnapped. In December 2022, self-proclaimed “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski was kidnapped and battered in downtown Toronto.

A BBC report explained that he was released after three days on the condition that he raise cash. Police investigations eventually revealed that Pleterski spearheaded a so-called “Project Swan,” in which investors were lured to invest up to $40 million. Despite the promise to invest these funds in crypto and foreign markets, Pleterski lavished a large chunk of the invested money.

In December 2017, Pavel Lerner, an executive of the UK-based crypto exchange Exmo, was kidnapped. He was ransomed through more than $1 million worth of BTC. At the time, the leading cryptocurrency exchanged hands with around $14,000.

Although rare, kidnap is one way bad actors extort money from their victims. Common exploitation schemes today include phishing attacks, ransomware exploits, and crypto romance scams.