TechFlow news, May 21 — According to Decrypt, Jacob Irwin-Cline, a tourist from Portland, Oregon, was the victim of a premeditated theft during a brief stay in London's West End. At around 1:30 a.m. on May 9, after leaving The Roxy nightclub in Soho, he ordered an Uber but was intercepted by a fake driver who knew his name. The driver offered him a cigarette laced with scopolamine—a sedative that leaves victims conscious but highly suggestible—causing Irwin-Cline to unknowingly reveal his phone password and access to his cryptocurrency accounts.
The attackers directly accessed his wallet and stole approximately $72,000 worth of XRP tokens, $50,000 in Bitcoin, and other small amounts of cryptocurrency, totaling losses exceeding $123,000. Police are investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made yet.
