Coinbase Scammer Gets 12 Years for $16M Customer Support Heist
A 23-year-old Brooklyn man, Ronald Spektor, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a $16 million Coinbase customer support scam.
Spektor posed as a Coinbase representative and warned users that hackers were threatening their accounts. He instructed victims to move their crypto to wallets presented as secure but secretly accessible to him.
The scheme generated about $15.944 million in losses, with some victims losing more than $1 million. Spektor pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree money laundering, grand larceny, and criminal possession of stolen property.
Prosecutors said Spektor laundered the stolen crypto through repeated swaps, exchanges, and mixing services before reaching cash-out points. He also used funds to buy gift cards and digital assets, and operated a Telegram channel where he boasted about thefts.