A U.S. tourist was drugged and robbed in London by an Uber driver who made off with $123,000 in cryptocurrency.
According to local media, the victim, 30-year-old Jacob Irwin-Cline, was visiting the UK on a short layover when the incident occurred.
After a night out in Soho, he called an Uber to return to his hostel, but instead, he ended up getting into a different vehicle with a driver who appeared to match the profile shown in his app.
Cline told reporters that the driver, who introduced himself as “Mohammed,” flagged him down using the name saved in the Uber app and seemed friendly enough to gain his trust.
The vehicle, however, didn’t match the make and model listed on Cline’s phone. Once inside, the driver offered him a cigarette that Cline now believes was laced with a powerful sedative.
He said he quickly became disoriented and passed out, waking up later to find himself on the street, his phone, which held access to his crypto wallets, gone.
Cline confirmed the $123,000 loss, stating that despite reaching out to the FBI’s cybercrime unit, he holds little hope of recovering the funds.
The incident adds to a troubling trend of crypto-related crimes targeting unsuspecting investors and tourists. As the popularity of digital assets continues to grow, so too do the risks for those holding substantial amounts on mobile wallets or unsecured devices.
Just weeks earlier, the father of a crypto exchange founder was kidnapped in France by a criminal gang demanding ransom.
In a separate case, the daughter and grandson of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat were the victims of an attempted abduction in broad daylight in Paris.
It prompted French authorities to roll out special protections for crypto professionals and their families, including priority police access and home security checks, following a spate of similar attacks.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., three teens in Florida reportedly kidnapped a man after a crypto event in Las Vegas, forcing him to transfer millions in digital assets before abandoning him in the desert.
