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An American tourist was the victim of a robbery in London after being drugged by a false taxi driver. The criminal fled with a cell phone containing the equivalent of USD $ 123,000 in Bitcoin and the private keys of the purse.

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• Jacob Irwin-Cline, an American citizen, was drugged with scopolamine during a false taxi trip in London.
• They stole his cell phone where he kept private keys to access his cryptocurrencies.
• Although it did not seem to be the original objective, the offender stole the victim’s cryptocurrencies.
• Other kidnapping and extortion attempts against crypto ecosystem figures are reported.

An American citizen, named Jacob Irwin-Cline, was the victim of a very bad experience during a trip to London, since during his stay in the British capital they stole more than USD $ 123,000 in Bitcoin.

The case of the tourist to which they stole their BTC

According to a report published by the medium My London, Cline went to a bar one night, after which he tried to return to his accommodation place using the app of Uber. This was where the victim made his first mistake, and it is that he approached a vehicle assuming that it was the one who should pick him up, when it really was another taxi not affiliated with the app.

As the report indicates, CLine was taken and did not properly verify the vehicle information in the application. Once addressed, the driver offered him a cigarette he accepted, which was allegedly impregnated with scopolamine, so after smoking it lost knowledge.

Upon awakening, the driver forced him to get out of the car. However, trying to do it, his cell phone suddenly snatched him and subsequently hit him, leaving him in the middle of public roads.

As Cline detailed, The stolen telephone not only contained personal information, but also direct access to the private keys of their cryptocurrency accounts. This lack of additional security measures cost the tourist the equivalent of USD $ 123,000 in Bitcoin, according to estimates presented in the report.

While the story of the facts does not seem to point to the offender being behind the victim’s crypto holdings, the case puts on the table certain errors that led to bad experience, and derived in the theft of their digital currencies:

• First, there is the need to extreme precautions when using transport services.
• On the other hand, risks are evident in the custody of digital assets, especially when you are abroad.

In this regard, the victim confirmed that after investigating, The funds were totally stolen, so it ended up losing some USD $ 123,000 in Bitcoin that kept on the device, next to the private keys of the purse where they were stored.

White crypto ecosystem figures of crime

Cline’s case is not an isolated event. So far in May, several similar incidents have been reported in Europe, specifically aimed at investors and entrepreneurs in the crypto sector.

On May 3, the French police released the father of an owner of Exchange Crypt who had been kidnapped by an organized crime network. The criminals demanded a rescue in cryptocurrencies. The victim was found after a raid operation of the authorities.

Days later, the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, CEO of the Exchange Paymium, They were target of an attempt to kidnapping in Paris. The attackers, masked, tried to force them to climb a parked vehicle. Noizat’s daughter managed to resist the help of another person, thus avoiding kidnapping.

Extreme protection measures

Given this wave of attacks, several actors of the crypto ecosystem have chosen to strengthen their personal security systems.

According to various sources cited by My London and other means, the demand for bodyguards, private security services and protocols has increased to protect both people and their digital assets.

Although traditional robberies are not new, the ease with which criminals can access large sums of money through poorly protected phones and wallets has generated a new modality of crime.

This case shows the importance of maintaining private keys outside vulnerable devices and considering the use of cold or multifirma wallets, especially when traveling.

Article written by a content editor. Edited by Angel Di Matteo / Diariobitcoin

Original image of Diariobitcoin, created with artificial intelligence, for free use, licensed under public domain

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