Brooklyn Man Sentenced for Stealing Nearly $16M in Cryptocurrency Scam
A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for stealing nearly $16 million in cryptocurrency from Coinbase users across the country.
Ronald Spektor, 23, of Sheepshead Bay, targeted around 100 Coinbase users while operating under the handle @lolimfeelingevil. He posed as a Coinbase representative and convinced victims that their accounts were at risk of being hacked.
Victims were then asked to transfer their cryptocurrency to what they believed were secure wallets controlled by Spektor. However, these wallets were actually accessible to him, allowing him to drain the accounts and launder the funds.
Prosecutors say some victims lost $1 million or more in the scam. Spektor had also openly bragged about his scheme on apps like Discord and Telegram.