Crypto Bounty Hunting - The Coinbase Thief

There has been a notable surge in incidents involving the theft of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT from Coinbase accounts, with a significant concentration of victims located in the United States, particularly those who have chosen to employ two-factor authentication (2FA) via text messaging. Recently, I have been approached by at least three victims who have shared identical circumstances - each of them possessed a Coinbase account, relied on text message-based 2FA for added security, and had taken various precautions to safeguard their private information.

​

This has lead me to believe that they were victims of data breachers. The choice of targeting the United States by data breachers can be attributed to the higher perceived value of American individuals' data. Once these malefactors acquire essential victim information such as names, email addresses, and phone numbers, they proceed to impersonate the victims and request a new SIM card. This new SIM card is then exploited to gain access to the victims' email accounts and Coinbase profiles, resulting in the complete theft of their Btc, Ether and USDT, with email records subsequently erased.

​

It is worth noting the astonishing absence of some sort of identity verification measures for something as critical as SIM cards in a developed nation like the United States. It's important to remember that SIM cards are not only integral to crypto exchanges but also play a pivotal role in securing various aspects of our digital lives, including social media and banking.

​

On the blockchain front, these scammers promptly transfer the stolen funds to hybrid exchanges, which are frequently used for money laundering purposes. They execute swaps between different blockchains, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, in a bid to obscure the transaction trail. Fortunately, this is good for victims, as these hybrid exchange services diligently maintain records of all transactions, including IP addresses, the browser utilized, and transaction hashes for each blockchain. This measure is taken to mitigate the risk of their operations being tainted akin to the Tornado Cash founders' experience.

​

Authorities have been very cooperative and we are working towards identifying this network which has a huge presence in the US, we have had luck so far and have been able to identify several exchange accounts which high transaction volume. I have also learned that many US states are investing into crypto training for authorities which amazing news, as increased training translates to more effectively resolved cases, a reduction in criminal activity, and an improved likelihood of victims recovering their lost assets.

​

If you currently rely on text-based 2FA, I strongly urge you to consider switching to an authenticator app as an added layer of security.

​

As always stay safe and Freak the Scammers