Brooklyn Man Charged in $16M Coinbase Phishing Scam
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A Recent statement published by the Office of the Brooklyn District Attorney says that a Brooklyn man was charged with stealing nearly $16 million by presenting himself as a cryptocurrency exchange rep and scamming users.
The statement, published last Friday, December 19, says that the DA’s office investigation revealed around 100 victims throughout the US.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said that the Virtual Currency Unit indicted a 23-year-old Brooklyn man in connection with a phishing and social engineering scheme that stole nearly $16 million from 100 users of the crypto exchange Coinbase.
The defendant used the handle @lolimfeelingevil to brag online, and has allegedly contacted users purporting to be a Coinbase representative. He then claimed that user assets are at risk from a hacker, convincing them to transfer their money to a new crypto wallet. He would then proceed to empty out those accounts and launder the assets by sending them to online swapping and mixing services, as well as crypto gambling entities.
Commenting on the matter, District Attorney Gonzalez said: “My office is committed to making sure that Brooklyn never becomes a hub for online scams, and we will continue to root out every instance of cryptocurrency fraud, which is a serious problem that’s been exploding throughout the country. We will investigate offenders using the latest technology, freeze their assets whenever possible, and assist the victims.”
The Defendant Bragged About His Heists And Tried To Recruit Others
The defendant was identified as Ronald Spektor of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He was arraigned before Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on a 31-count indictment, charging him with first-degree grand larceny, first-degree money laundering, scheme to defraud, and other related counts. The statement further noted that the defendant is being held on bail.
According to the announcement, around $105,000 in cash and another $400,000 in cryptocurrency were seized from the defendant in the course of the investigation, and the DA’s Office is working to access more alleged stolen crypto assets.
As mentioned, the defendant bragged about his heists on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, where he ran a channel called “Blockchain enemies.” Upon his arrest, the authorities have also recovered text messages from his phone that show that, after becoming the subject of online allegations of fraud, he allegedly disposed of a crypto hardware wallet and has instead purchased a new one.
However, his home IP address was allegedly linked to multiple wallets from which crypto assets were stolen. Furthermore, he also seemingly used online forums to recruit others to work for him as social engineers.
