Case Study: Drink Spiked Before Crypto Robbery

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Andrew* was a fixture of London’s LGBTQ+ clubbing scene and frequented various bars and clubs over the course of an average weekend.

He was in a well-paid job and enjoyed using some of his spare cash to dabble in a variety of investments, including crypto.

He’d built up a sizeable portfolio, with his XRP holding alone worth more than £25,000 which he’d kept stored on a well-known mainstream cryptocurrency trading platform.

One weekend he was at a popular London club when he met two men at the bar. They hit it off and were soon enjoying drinks together as the conversation flowed.

As the night wore on, one of the men suggested the three of them move on to a house party he’d been invited to where they could continue drinking and enjoying the night once the club had closed.

Andrew trusted his new friends and was having such a good time that he didn’t want the night to end so he agreed to go with them to the party.

Drink spiked before leaving club

But as soon as the group left the club, things started to go wrong.

Andrew started to feel unwell and far more drunk and out of control than he usually would be given the number of drinks he’d had. Remember, he was out most weekends and used to spending long hours drinking and dancing so was well aware of his limits.

The two men he was with held him upright and bundled him into a taxi. His memory of the next couple of hours is hazy, but he recalls being dropped off near some garages where it was very dark and no-one else was around.

The men then forced him to unlock his phone with his fingerprint – although he was barely conscious at this point – before accessing his crypto account where they drained his entire portfolio by transferring his funds to other wallets.

He recalls waking up on the ground near the garages a few hours later when it was daylight and finding someone who allowed him to make a call on their phone to a friend who came to pick him up.

Targeted for crypto

He now believes he’d been deliberately targeted and that his drink was spiked. Previously, he’d often talked about crypto investing with people as he was enthusiastic about the subject and he’s sure that someone must have passed this information to the men who robbed him.

However, he feels he is lucky in many respects.

He knows things could have been far worse. There have been a growing number of robberies involving crypto where the victim has been physically harmed or even killed.

Andrew wasn’t hurt, although he says the psychological effects of what happened will say with him for life. However he’s determined to move on and is keen to make others aware of what happened to him.

Stolen coins traced abroad

When he spoke to The Crypto Adviser team he was rightly angry about the loss of his crypto, but he also had a burning desire to track down the people who’d robbed him and bring them to justice.

We were able to connect him with one of our partners who specialises in tracking down stolen crypto using advanced forensic techniques and an array of bespoke tools.

They were able to follow the stolen coins as they moved across the blockchain and eventually located them on a crypto exchange based abroad.

They helped Andrew work with authorities in the exchange’s jurisdiction and take legal steps to freeze some of the stolen assets, which were ultimately returned to him. Unfortunately, the culprits could not be traced.

Surprisingly, Andrew hasn’t been put off investing in crypto. But he’s vowed to be more careful in the future, especially when it comes to who he talks to about his investments.

Guidance on security measures

We explained some of the security measures he could take, such as moving his coins to a decentralised hardware wallet, and guided him through the set-up process, including storing his seed phrase securely.

His case demonstrates the lengths thieves will go to in order to steal cryptocurrency and serves as a lesson to anyone with crypto investments about the importance of discretion and security.

We’re grateful to Andrew for sharing his story and thankful that he is gradually rebuilding his confidence after what was a harrowing experience for him.

We’re also glad that we were able to help him secure the return of some of his coins.

We can help

If you’ve been the victim of a crypto scam, or have any other crypto-related queries, we can help so please get in touch.

*Not his real name