A brief stopover at the U.S. software developer’s short London stopover turned into a nightmare amid suspicion of kidnapping and crypto theft that left him physically and financially injured.
Jacob Irwin-Cline, 30, said he was drugged by a fake Uber driver in the early hours of May 9, and he allegedly used a mandatory strategy and a spike cigarette to steal the chances of entering the Irwin-Cline Crypto Holdings. In the process, the victim evacuated an astonishing $123,000 from his digital wallet.
Drug use, injury and robbery
According to a Mylondon report, the Portland native was drinking on the Roxy Nightclub in Soho and plans to return to his Bayswater hotel shortly after 1:30 a.m. But after calling legal Uber through the app, a man similar to a driver’s profile pulled up in another car, the dark sedan instead of the listed Toyota Prius.
Due to familiarity, Irwin-Cline accepted the driver’s cigarette, which he believed was tied up by scopolamine, a known drug that made the victim flexible and amnesia.
Next up is a blur: Irwin-Cline recalls that he lost consciousness intermittently, during which he said he was handing over the seal code and navigated through his app before being ejected by the vehicle. He also said the driver hit him when he suddenly escaped.
The attacker reportedly used Irwin-Cline’s Revolut app to access multiple crypto wallets and pulled about $72,000 in XRP, $50,000 in Bitcoin and a smaller AltCoin amount. The victim’s phone and laptop were compromised – his laptop was wiped remotely and his phone was stolen.
Despite the desperate battle to restore his account with the assistance of a roommate in the United States, the digital assets disappeared within a few hours. He said he had little ability to walk and be emotionally devastating.
While he does not think he was intentional, the attack reflects cases involving so-called “wrench attacks” across Europe, in which case, forced cryptocurrencies into force with physical coercion. The Metropolitan Police and the FBI’s cybercrime team are now investigating, but Irwin-Cline fears the chance of recovery is small.
Body Attack Upgrade
As the industry gains wider acceptance and popularity, physical attacks against individuals holding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are worrying.
Earlier this month, a kidnapping attempt in Paris failed, targeting the daughter and grandson of a well-known crypto executive. The masked attacker ambushed the family while getting off the school but fled after the couple resisted, and later one of the attackers’ guns showed up as a replica. The incident was captured by cameras, adding a series of cryptocurrency-related crimes in France. The victim was identified as a relative of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat.
Previous attacks, including the kidnapped father of the crypto millionaire and ransom attacks on Ledger’s co-founder, all involved dismemberment.
American tourists are drugged and robbed in London: XRP $123K, BTC disappears on Cryptopotato for the first time.