A Brooklyn man has been charged with stealing $16M in crypto from about 100 Coinbase users by impersonating support staff and using social engineering. Authorities seized some assets, set $500k bail, and continue recovery efforts.

"Prosecutors said Spektor operated online under the alias “lolimfeelingevil” and relied on classic social engineering tactics rather than technical exploits. Victims were told their funds could be stolen by hackers unless they acted quickly, a strategy authorities say was used to bypass skepticism and trigger panic-driven decisions. Once the cryptocurrency was transferred, Spektor allegedly attempted to obscure the trail of funds by routing assets through cryptocurrency mixers, token-swapping services and crypto gambling platforms."

Top comment by @Spencer420

More coverage

• Brooklyn man charged with 31 counts in $16M crypto theft from ... (bingx.com)
• Brooklyn man indicted for allegedly stealing $16 million from ... (blockchair.com)
• Brooklyn Man Charged with Stealing nearly $16 Million by ... (brooklynda.org)
• Brooklyn Man Booked For Coinbase Crypto Phishing Scam (sqmagazine.co.uk)
• Brooklyn man charged with defrauding about 100 crypto investors ... (abc7ny.com)

Explore the topic

• Social Engineering
• Coinbase
• Sei