Warning: Drink spike victim had nearly £20k stolen

Warning: Drink spike victim had nearly £20k stolen

Image: Pixabay

Warning: Drink spike victim had nearly £20k stolen. He woke up with no memory of the night and discovered his phone and wallet were missing.

Ben Gregory, 26, had been on a night out in South London’s Clapham earlier this year. He believes that he was targeted and his drink was spiked. He has spoken out to warn others of the dangers of being spiked.

David Clarke is the chair of the Fraud Advisory Panel charity. He has advised people to stay vigilant ahead of the Christmas party season. Clarke commented: “Fraudsters are cruel, devious people online and in the physical world and people must be alert to the danger of having drinks spiked especially in the Christmas party season when people may be off guard.”

Ben revealed what happened when he woke up after a night out with friends.

“I remember waking up… with no phone or wallet,” commented Ben.

“I woke up pretty dizzy, dazed, not quite sure what happened so obviously I was a bit alarmed.

“I had some messages on my work phone from my brother saying: ‘Is everything OK [because] there’s been an overdraft opened on our joint account. What’s happened?’.

“As soon as I saw that alarm bells started ringing because I didn’t do that.”

He went on to add: “I felt terrible, absolutely terrible. Over the next few days I couldn’t stop thinking about it, couldn’t sleep, found it very hard to eat. Because ultimately I felt worried and vulnerable.”

Inspector Dave Laurie, for London’s Metropolitan Police, stated: “[Spiking] is a terrible thing that’s happening and it goes further than the impact on the individual. This impact will run deep. And we know many spiking incidents will go unreported,”

“There are ways we can try to help stop spiking happening in the first place.

“Buy your own drink, watch it being poured, don’t accept drinks from strangers, never leave it unattended. If your drink doesn’t taste right throw it away and get another one.”


Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

Comments