Reasons Why Thieves Targeted Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, France on Sunday night, and while the reality TV star escaped the incident physically unharmed, her attackers made off with over $10 million of her jewelry, including her $4.5 million wedding ring from her marriage to hip-hop artist Kanye West and a jewelry box filled with millions of dollars worth of other pieces. Kardashian was in the City of Light to attend Paris Fashion Week and her reps say she was "badly shaken" by the incident, in which she was tied up and locked in her bathroom by five men pretending to be police officers at her hotel. Unlike Ryan Lochte's confusing non-incident in Brazil, this appears to have been a real-deal international hold-up. Why did the thieves target Kardashian?

An overnight concierge was reportedly on duty at the No Address Hotel at 2:30AM. when the robbery took place, but he was overtaken by the intruders, who may have known there was just one guard on staff and handcuffed and held the staffer at gunpoint. The perpetrators are said to have demanded the key to her room and access to its location. Sources also suspect that the assailants may have had an inside connection to the location as a result of their timing and perceived knowledge of the security detail.

"I would say, beyond a reasonable certainty, based on what the media has published about the exclusivity of where the crime took place, that this is an inside job," criminal expert Michael Levine told Fox News. "That someone with intimate knowledge of both the Kardashian-Wests' habits as well as whatever security was involved at the mansion was directly responsible."

Levine added that "There is some possibility that Kim and/or her husband were under surveillance in order to set up the crime; however, that is less likely due to the prevalence of security cameras pretty much wherever they were traveling. My best professional guess is that it was someone close to West/Kardashian with a lot of intimate knowledge and the ability to make some criminal contacts in France."

Given that every single step of Kardashian's life is painstakingly video-documented by the ever-present camera crew for her long-running E! Reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, some have wondered why there wasn't a videographer around when the incident took place. Per Fox News' source, the crew had likely just clocked out for the day when it happened, since it was so late at night. "From a TV perspective, security is usually provided by the production during work hours, but the production isn't responsible for security when not working," the source speculated.

Kardashian, whose social media prowess is part and parcel in her famous-for-being-famous career, shared a close-up shot of her staggeringly large ring just two days before the robbery, proving she had it in her possession while frequenting the French fashion circuit. Of course, that doesn't mean Kardashian was sending an open invitation for someone to steal her bauble, but the sparkler may have inadvertently sparked the thieves' interest in her gem.

West did accompany Kardashian for a portion of her Paris trip, but he returned to New York to perform at the Meadows Music Festival on Sunday evening, which was very public information, so the thieves may have known that Kardashian would be returning to her room without her husband in tow. Kardashian wasn't completely alone in the French capital, of course. She's also been spotted out and about with sister Kourtney Kardashian, who joined her to take in the sartorial sights, as well as her mother Kris Jenner and younger sister Kendall Jenner, who was out at a nightclub with Kourtney Kardashian and famous friends like Hailey Baldwin and Anwar Hadid at the time.

Kardashian even shared a shot of herself FaceTiming with brother Rob Kardashian's fiancee Blac Chyna to wish her a happy baby shower mere minutes before the break-in, effectively confirming to nefarious onlookers that she was back in her room and alone at the time.

In retrospect, it certainly seems unwise for Kardashian to have detailed every step of her journey through Paris, but perhaps the most dangerous revelation was when she shared a close-up photograph of security guard Pascal Duvier, joking, "this guy is always in my shot." She even shared a link to his Twitter profile. This may have given the thieves some crucial intel on who to look out for in their planning phase. Not that they couldn't have figured it out based on the endless paparazzi photos, of course, especially since Duvier had already sprung into action earlier in the week to defend her against notorious celebrity harasser Vitalii Sediuk, who tried to make unwanted contact with the star on Wednesday. Duvier was reportedly with Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian at the time of the invasion.

Another way Kardashian's prolific social media presence may have contributed to the robbery is that it may have given the thieves an "in" to access her location. Even if the thieves weren't already familiar with her itinerary before she blasted her every move online, some experts believe she could've accidentally included such information in her posts.

Cyber security expert Bruce Anderson told Fox News, "As far as Snapchat, Twitter, etc., it depends upon whether she has location services turned on or not as to whether she was leaking geolocation from that information. It is also possible if she showed a picture of her location. The other possibility is her phone could have been hacked. And the most likely is someone planned this robbery in advance, knew she was going to be at events in Paris, tailed her location, or utilized GPS trackers to track her to her location. There are lots of ways to get to information and track someone down. We do this all the time with suspects."

Indeed at least one of the behind-the-scenes candid photos she shared displayed potentially identifying information about her hotel accommodations, as a background sign from her pic clearly read, "Acces Cantier Ritz 2."

After speaking with French police, Kardashian has now returned to the United States with mother Kris Jenner and rejoined West in New York Monday morning. Per People, she was "very upset and couldn't wait to leave Paris" after the incident. "She got robbed of her jewelry but doesn't care. She is just happy to be alive." West, who immediately cancelled his performance mid-song after being made aware of the incident, is said to share the appreciation for her safety, and Kardashian has learned a very difficult lesson about the price of so much fame and detail-sharing.

A source told People that "this was one of Kim's biggest fears. She's always known the threats are out there, but for something to happen, it's almost unimaginable. It's going to take her a very long time to feel safe again." The long-reigning queen of social media might just dial down her digital game after this, too—or at least be a little more cautious about the kind of sensitive information she's unknowingly sharing with her frequent posts.