Jameson Lopp, the Co-founder and CTO of CasaHODL and creator of the Bitcoin.page, has issued a warning to Bitcoiners who plan on visiting Colombia with their private keys.
Lopp took to Twitter to express his concern, stating that if the trend continues, Colombia may become the number one hotspot for physical attacks on Bitcoiners due to the prevalence of Scopolamine, a drug that makes victims compliant.
Lopp went on to recount a harrowing experience of a Bitcoiner who was nearly robbed of all his Bitcoin after being drugged with Scopolamine. The victim, who was on vacation in Colombia, met a taxi driver and went to parties with girls.
After blacking out, he woke up to find that he had brought two hookers to his house and had given the taxi driver the code to his house and phone with his BTC and code. The victim later found out that $600 worth of BTC was stolen along with his phone.
Bitcoiners & traveling To Colombia
In response to Lopp’s tweet, some pointed out that the incident was less about Colombia and more about partying with strangers in a foreign country. However, Lopp was quick to point out that there have been similar incidents with people meeting via dating apps like Tinder.
BTC Core developer Luke Dashjr also weighed in, questioning whether similar incidents could happen anywhere. Lopp acknowledged that theoretically, they could, but the prevalence of Scopolamine in Colombia makes it a more dangerous location for Bitcoiners.
Lopp urged anyone who knows of any such attacks involving crypto assets to report them on his repository at Github.com. In the meantime, anyone traveling to Colombia with cryptocurrency should be aware of the risks and take precautions to protect their assets.
Nevertheless, despite the potential for significant rewards, owning cryptocurrency comes with risks, as emphasized by Jameson Lopp’s warning.
Safeguarding digital assets from theft and fraud requires constant vigilance and caution. With the increasing crypto adoption, the community must stay informed about potential hazards and take proactive measures to minimize them.
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