Sheepshead Bay Man Sentenced to Prison for $16M Crypto Scam
A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to prison for stealing nearly $16 million in cryptocurrency from Coinbase users across the country. Ronald Spektor, 23, of Sheepshead Bay, operated under the handle @lolimfeelingevil and targeted about 100 victims nationwide.
Prosecutors say that the scam was a 'long-running social engineering' operation where Spektor convinced people to send him their login credentials and two-factor authentication codes.
The stolen funds were taken from Coinbase users who stored their digital assets on the exchange. The exact nature of the scam is not detailed in the source, but it appears that Spektor posed as a trustworthy figure and tricked his victims into handing over sensitive information.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez described the crime as 'a brazen digital robbery' and emphasized that Spektor's sentencing holds him accountable for his actions. As part of his sentence, Spektor will serve four to 12 years in prison.