Brooklyn man to face charges over $16 million stolen from Coinbase customers

A Brooklyn native has been charged with stealing $16 million in a crypto phishing scheme. According to prosecutors in Brooklyn, 23-year-old resident Ronald Spektor carried out a phishing scheme targeting more than 100 Coinbase users. The suspect was able to fleece his victims of more than $16 million.

Spektor, who goes by “lolimfeelingevil” online, was accused of being the mastermind behind a phishing and social engineering scheme.

According to prosecutors, the Brooklyn native would call users, pretend to be a representative of the crypto exchange, and ask them to send digital assets to accounts under his control. The prosecutors mentioned that Spektor instilled fear in his victims by claiming that their digital assets were at risk of being stolen by a hacker, and provided a wallet that they could send their digital assets to for safekeeping.

Brooklyn native charged with phishing and crypto theft

According to prosecutors, once Spektor is in charge of the digital assets, he would then try to launder them using cryptocurrency mixers, swapping services, and crypto gambling websites. The Brooklyn native was arraigned on 31 charges on Friday, including a first-degree larceny, first-degree money laundering, and participating in a scheme to defraud.

Prosecutors mentioned that Spektor openly bragged about his heists within a channel on the messaging platform Telegram. In recovered messages from the Telegram group Blockchain enemies, Spektor allegedly said that he had lost about $6 million in digital assets to gambling.

One of his victims contacted pseudonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who published his investigation into the alleged scammer last year. The individual who approached ZachXBT claimed that they lost more than $6 million to Spektor. Prosecutors also noted that other victims spread across the country, with most of them losing millions to the suspect.

According to a report, a Pennsylvania man mentioned that he received a phone call in September 2024 from an individual claiming to be Fred Wilson from Coinbase. He had initially received spoofed two-factor authentication text messages from Coinbase and Google, which helped to trick him into believing that his assets were at risk of being stolen.

The man noted that he lost $53,150 worth of digital assets to the caller. Another woman also lost $38,750 in digital assets to the same modus operandi.

Coinbase worked with authorities to apprehend the criminal

In a post, Coinbase mentioned that it worked closely with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office and its Virtual Currency Unit. The company said it helped identify Spektor and his victims, shared associated on-chain activity, and assisted with efforts to trace stolen funds.

Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, also mentioned that they provided evidence to ensure that he could be charged. “We’re committed to protecting our customers and working hand-in-hand with law enforcement to hold scammers accountable and help bring justice for those they harm,” he said.

District Attorney Gonzalez mentioned that the indictment showed that the defendant ran his scam on innocent crypto investors across the country. He highlighted that his office is committed to making sure that Brooklyn never becomes a hub for criminals and online scams. He promised to keep working hard with law enforcement to make sure that every instance of crypto fraud is rooted out. “We will investigate offenders using the latest technology, freeze their assets whenever possible, and assist the victims,” he added.

Prosecutors mentioned that Spektor resides with his father in Brooklyn, and the defendant’s home IP address was allegedly linked to multiple crypto wallets that were stolen from. They mentioned that he also recruits people online to work for him as social engineers and to brag about his criminal exploits.

A Judge set his bail at $500,000, and the Judge refused to let his father post bond, citing an inability to discern the source of the funds.

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