How A Cigarette In A London Uber Cost This US Man Rs 1 Crore

A US techie was allegedly drugged and robbed of over Rs 1 crore worth of cryptocurrency in London by a man posing as an Uber driver. Jacob Irwin-Cline, 30, a former software engineer from Portland, Oregon, was on a two-day layover in London en route to Spain when the incident occurred.

"I lost $123,000 dollars in crypto and assets," Mr Irwin-Cline told British outlet MyLondon. "They took the majority of my wealth."

It all began around 1:30 am on May 9 after a night out at a Soho nightclub. As he stepped outside, a man called out his name, appearing to match the profile of his booked Uber. Trusting it was his ride, Mr Irwin-Cline sat inside the car without verifying the car model or license plate.

Once inside, the driver offered him a cigarette, which he accepted. Soon after smoking it, he began feeling "really docile" and drowsy, symptoms he suspects were caused by scopolamine, a powerful sedative often used in crimes to make victims compliant.

"There was definitely some sort of drug in the cigarette. I passed out for what I assumed to be 20 to 30 minutes," he recalled.

In a semi-conscious state, he handed over his phone and passwords. He said the driver then dumped him in a "weird part" of London and hit him with the car before speeding off.

"I vaguely remember going through applications a bit. He got a couple of passkeys from me to enter applications," Mr Irwin-Cline said.

The techie left without his phone, and managed to stumble back to his hostel, only to find that his laptop had been remotely wiped and he was locked out of his financial accounts. When he finally regained access, he discovered that his crypto wallets had been emptied.

He reported the incident to British police. So far, no recovery of funds or arrests have been reported.

"It's virtually impossible to get that money back unless some weird miracle happened," Mr Irwin-Cline said.

His case comes amid a rising number of violent crimes targeting cryptocurrency holders around the world.

Three days ago, Italian crypto investor Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan was reportedly kidnapped and tortured in New York City. His alleged captors, including Kentucky crypto investor John Woeltz, demanded access to his Bitcoin holdings.

Mr Carturan was tied to a chair, electrocuted while his feet were in a bucket of water, urinated on, pistol-whipped, and even had his limbs cut with a chainsaw before escaping when the kidnappers were distracted.