Coinbase won't telephone customers to pass them that their accounts whitethorn person been compromised. It's a communal scam vector. Still, idiosyncratic tried it connected me.

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Account compromise

The narrative

Last weekend, an chartless California fig called me. A adjuvant man informed maine that my Coinbase relationship had been compromised during its caller information breach and helium was determination to assistance maine successful not losing my assets.

Oh no, the horror!

Why it matters

All right, truthful evidently this is simply a scam. Right aft hanging up with this expected assistance table agent, I texted a Coinbase spokesperson to verify that astatine nary constituent would the speech call a lawsuit to archer them their relationship was compromised. It's scam 101 — if you're getting a telephone telephone informing you that your account's been compromised, whether astatine a crypto exchange, a bank, the IRS, whatever, it's a scam. Do not stock your idiosyncratic details and bash not supply immoderate passwords if you get a telephone similar this.

There were a fewer flaws successful the effort to get maine to, presumably, determination my funds from my supposedly compromised Coinbase relationship to different address. But I'm hopeful that this tin beryllium a utile teaching infinitesimal for the astir 70,000 radical who person been affected by Coinbase's caller breach disclosure, arsenic good arsenic anyone other who receives a telephone telephone claiming their accusation has been compromised. Here's however this went down.

Breaking it down

Let's commencement from the beginning. On Saturday, May 24, I received a telephone from a fig I didn't admit to my idiosyncratic phone, not my public-facing enactment number. It being a weekend, 1 wherever I was really visiting household successful different state, I didn't prime up. Then the aforesaid fig called backmost and I inactive didn't prime up (yes I know, riveting, but it's 2025 and you tin permission a voicemail oregon text).

Ten minutes later, I received a 3rd telephone from a antithetic number, which I did prime up due to the fact that astatine that constituent I was curious.

A fast-talking man who called himself Riccardo told maine helium was portion of Coinbase's Actions and Protections Department and that helium was reaching retired due to the fact that my Coinbase relationship accusation had been compromised and a caller email had conscionable been added to my account.

I was beauteous confused, for reasons I'll get into below. But I was besides intrigued due to the fact that determination were instantly 4 reddish flags. For simplicity's sake, I'll notation to the caller arsenic "the agent" from present connected out, but to beryllium perfectly clear, I uncertainty helium is an existent lawsuit work agent, typical oregon different worker of Coinbase, and helium surely was not reaching retired to maine arsenic an authorized typical of the exchange.

First off, the telephone telephone itself is simply a large reddish flag. Coinbase volition ne'er telephone a lawsuit astir a breach, but alternatively volition interaction customers via email, it antecedently said successful a tweet.

This is really standard. The Federal Trade Commission website notes determination is simply a immense scope of scams wherein idiosyncratic volition telephone you, and numerous other companies person warnings that their employees volition ne'er proactively telephone a lawsuit astir relationship issues.

The cause I spoke to said they would frost my relationship for 24 hours to guarantee nary funds could beryllium stolen (thanks, I guess?) and that a supervisor would scope retired to maine (I proceed to hold for this supervisor to call). This expected frost connected my relationship tin beryllium extended to 3 months if determination are aggregate failed login attempts.

To wrapper up the call, helium said he'd nonstop maine an email summarizing each the details we'd discussed. On Saturday night, I received an email with the taxable enactment "your lawsuit is nether review."

The follow-up email this precise adjuvant lawsuit work typical sent was highly informative.

For 1 thing, the email code they had associated with my relationship is simply a public-facing address, but is not the email code attached to my existent Coinbase relationship (in fairness, I forgot that portion until I tried to find my login accusation a fewer days later).

Gmail initially (correctly) flagged this email arsenic spam. I moved it to my inbox, wherever Gmail past showed maine that the sender (help@info-coinbase.com) was not the existent sender — the email arrived via learnindonesian.online. Even the info-coinbase.com portion is sketchy — for 1 thing, Coinbase's website is coinbase.com, though it does nonstop emails from info@info.coinbase.com — still, you wouldn't expect a hyphen successful a enactment email domain. For another, the info-coinbase domain was archetypal created successful November 2024 (according to an ICANN lookup) and isn't a existent website.

The email headers were besides not ace adjuvant successful presumption of providing immoderate benignant of identifying information, but they did corroborate that the sender appeared to person tried to obfuscate their information.

Curiously, the "Visit Coinbase" nexus astatine the bottommost appeared to nexus to the existent Coinbase website and determination bash not look to beryllium immoderate hidden embedded images oregon different attached files successful the email astatine all. I'm not wholly definite what's going connected there. A existent scammer could person embedded a microorganism of immoderate benignant into the email oregon adjacent a tracking pixel. Another communal instrumentality scammers mightiness usage is putting successful a phishing nexus successful spot of a morganatic 1 successful an email, tricking the idiosyncratic into going to a website intended to bargain their login accusation (this is not legal, method oregon immoderate different benignant of advice; if you determine to effort and scam idiosyncratic utilizing accusation you gleaned from this newsletter, halt it).

While scammers mightiness sometimes cognize however overmuch their intended victims person successful a wallet oregon account, the idiosyncratic who called maine did not look to person that accusation (as I person zero crypto successful my Coinbase account).

I called the fig backmost connected Friday to spot what mightiness happen. No 1 picked up. I conjecture my relationship indispensable beryllium unafraid now.

Stories you whitethorn person missed

• Stand With Crypto Removes Soulja Boy From NJ Governor Rally After Discovering Sexual Assault Fine: Stand With Crypto announced Soulja Boy and 070 Shake would header a "get retired the ballot rally" adjacent week up of New Jersey's politician superior election. SWC removed Soulja Boy a time aboriginal aft discovering helium was recovered liable for intersexual artillery and battle charges and ordered to wage $4 cardinal past month, successful a lawsuit stemming from 2021.
• SEC Task Force Chief Says Crypto Traders Need to beryllium Growups, Not Cry to Government: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce told the Bitcoin 2025 Las Vegas assemblage that it's good to put successful speculative assets, particularly if there's nary national regulator with adjacent oversight, but those investors can't inquire for a bailout erstwhile prices sink.
• U.S. House Republicans Officially Introduce Crypto Market Structure Bill: House Republicans person formally introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, its marketplace operation bill, conscionable weeks aft circulating a treatment draft.
• Crypto Staking Doesn't Violate U.S. Securities Law, SEC Says: The SEC's latest unit connection looks astatine staking and however the securities regulator mightiness measure that portion of the crypto ecosystem.
• SEC Files to Dismiss Long-Running Lawsuit Against Binance: The SEC and Binance filed a associated stipulation to driblet the regulator's lawsuit against Binance.
• Suspects successful Manhattan Crypto Kidnapping, Torture Case Plead Not Guilty arsenic Investigation Widens: News broke implicit the play that a crypto capitalist had been kidnapped and tortured for his Bitcoin keys. Two suspects accused of perpetrating the kidnapping person been arrested and pled not guilty.
• Trump's Memecoin Dinner Questioned by Top Democrat connected House Judiciary Committee: Jamie Raskin, the apical Democrat connected the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a missive to U.S. President Donald Trump calling connected him to people the names of his guests astatine past week's memecoin dinner.

This week

Friday

• 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. ET) A national justice held a telephone proceeding to measure Roman Storm's defence statement that the Department of Justice whitethorn person withheld information. The justice ruled that successful her view, the DOJ did not person to reappraisal its materials and had not withheld accusation that roseate to the level of affecting proceedings.

Elsewhere:

• (The Washington Post) The White House published a "Make America Healthy Again" study that cited nonexistent studies and references — with telltale signs that AI whitethorn person been utilized to make astatine slightest immoderate parts of the report.
• (The Federal Reserve) The Fed said 8% of adults who responded to a survey said they held cryptocurrency successful the U.S., down from 12% 4 years ago.

If you’ve got thoughts oregon questions connected what I should sermon adjacent week oregon immoderate different feedback you’d similar to share, consciousness escaped to email maine astatine nik@coindesk.com oregon find maine connected Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

You tin besides articulation the radical speech connected Telegram.

See ya’ll adjacent week!