Brooklyn Man Gets 4-12 Years for Stealing $16M from Coinbase Users

A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for running a cryptocurrency phishing operation that stole nearly $16 million from about 100 Coinbase users across the United States.

The scheme relied on impersonating Coinbase representatives, contacting victims and telling them that hackers had put their cryptocurrency at risk. Victims were then directed to compromised wallets that appeared to be under their control but were accessible to Spektor, investigators found.

Once funds arrived, the cryptocurrency was removed and routed through a series of exchanges, swapping and mixing services, gambling platforms, and online storefronts.