Brooklyn Man Gets 4-12 Years for Phishing Coinbase Users Out of $16 Million
A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for running a year-long phishing operation against Coinbase users. Ronald Spektor pleaded guilty to a 31-count indictment, including charges of first-degree money laundering and grand larceny.
The scam, which lasted from an unknown start date to September 2022, convinced around 100 victims to transfer nearly $16 million in cryptocurrency to wallets controlled by Spektor. Prosecutors said the stolen assets were laundered through multiple crypto exchanges before being converted into cash or used for other purposes.
Coinbase has been a target for phishing operations due to its large user base and reputation as a trusted exchange. In 2022, the company disclosed that some of its customer support agents had been bribed by criminals to steal user data, leading to social engineering attacks.