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Two Teenagers Impersonated Coinbase Support to Steal $4.2 Million

Press Releases Crypto News BeInCrypto Two Teenagers Impersonated Coinbase Support to Steal $4.2 Million

Crypto scams are rising as criminals wake up to the jackpots offered by individuals with a poor understanding of how to keep themselves secure online. In the latest case, police in Hamilton, Ontario, say that two teenage boys stole $4 million USD in cryptocurrency from an American man by impersonating the support staff of a major crypto exchange.

According to a CBC report, police say that the two young men used the internet aliases “Felon” and “Gaze” and tricked the man out of significant amounts of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two most popular cryptocurrencies. The pair achieved this by impersonating the support team from Coinbase, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange.

“Spear Phishing” Attacks Target Specific Individuals

Such scams are so common there is a term for them. Spear phishing is a targeted form of cyber attack where attackers impersonate trusted individuals or organizations to deceive specific individuals.

The scam is distinct from ordinary “phishing,” which sends many malicious messages to many potential victims. Spear phishing is often more successful as it relies on bad actors knowing more about their victims.

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It is likely that the victim here had a custodial account with Coinbase, meaning the exchange ultimately held access to his crypto funds. Complying with an authentic-looking email asking to share account details would be all that was needed to steal the money.

Spear phishing scams like this one drive crypto users to choose non-custodial wallets due to Go to Source to See Full Article
Author: Josh Adams

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