A US software developer’s brief London layover turned into a nightmare after a suspected abduction and crypto theft left him physically injured and financially gutted.
Jacob Irwin-Cline, 30, says he was drugged by a fake Uber driver in the early hours of May 9, who allegedly used coercive tactics and a spiked cigarette to steal access to Irwin-Cline’s crypto holdings. In the process, the victim was drained of a staggering $123,000 from his digital wallets.
Drugged, Injured, and Robbed
According to a report by MyLondon, the Portland native had stepped out for drinks at The Roxy nightclub in Soho and planned to return to his Bayswater hostel shortly after 1:30 AM. But after calling a legitimate Uber through the app, a man resembling the driver’s profile pulled up in a different vehicle, a dark sedan rather than the listed Toyota Prius.
Lured by familiarity, Irwin-Cline accepted a cigarette from the driver, which he believes was laced with scopolamine, a drug known to render victims pliable and amnesic.
What followed was a blur: Irwin-Cline recalled that he intermittently lost consciousness, during which he said to had handed over passcodes, and vaguely navigated through his apps before being ejected from the vehicle. He also said that the driver struck him during the abrupt escape.
The attacker reportedly exploited Irwin-Cline’s Revolut app to access multiple crypto wallets and extracted roughly $72,000 in XRP, $50,000 in Bitcoin, and smaller altcoin amounts. The victim’s phone and laptop were both compromised – his laptop was remotely wiped, and his phone was stolen.
Despite a desperate scramble to recover his accounts, aided by a flatmate back in the US, the digital assets were gone within hours. He said he was left barely able to walk and emotionally devastated.
While he does not believe he was deliberately targeted, the attack mirrors rising cases across Europe involving so-called “wrench attacks,” where physical coercion is used to force crypto access. The Metropolitan Police and FBI cybercrime team are now investigating, but Irwin-Cline fears the odds of recovery are slim.
Physical Attacks Escalate
As the industry gains wider acceptance and popularity, there has been a worrying increase in physical assaults targeting individuals holding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this month, a failed kidnapping attempt in Paris targeted the daughter and grandson of a prominent crypto executive. Masked attackers ambushed the family during a school drop-off but fled after the couple resisted, with one attacker’s gun later revealed to be a replica. The incident, caught on camera, adds to a string of violent crypto-related crimes in France. Victims were confirmed to be relatives of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat.
Previous attacks include a kidnapped crypto millionaire’s father and a ransom assault on Ledger’s co-founder, both involving mutilation.
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