{"id":12191,"date":"2025-05-18T14:05:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T12:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsj-crypto.com\/?p=12191"},"modified":"2025-05-18T14:05:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T12:05:32","slug":"artist-falls-victim-to-2m-crypto-scam-by-coinbase-impostor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsj-crypto.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/artist-falls-victim-to-2m-crypto-scam-by-coinbase-impostor\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Falls Victim to $2M Crypto Scam by Coinbase Impostor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former artist Ed Suman lost over $2 million in cryptocurrency earlier this year after becoming a target of a scam involving an individual impersonating a Coinbase support agent.<\/p>\n

Suman, 67, dedicated nearly twenty years as a fabricator in the art industry, contributing to renowned projects like Jeff Koons\u2019 Balloon Dog<\/em> sculptures, as reported by Bloomberg on May 17 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After his retirement, he ventured into cryptocurrency investments, ultimately amassing 17.5 Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) and 225 Ether (ETH<\/a>) \u2014 a collection that constituted the majority of his retirement funds.<\/p>\n

He secured his assets in a Trezor Model One, a hardware wallet typically utilized by cryptocurrency holders to mitigate the threats of exchange hacks. However, in March, Suman received a text message that seemed to be from Coinbase, alerting him about unauthorized access to his account.<\/p>\n

Upon replying, he received a call from an individual claiming to be a Coinbase security representative named Brett Miller. The caller demonstrated proficiency, accurately indicating that Suman\u2019s assets were kept in a hardware wallet.<\/p>\n

He subsequently persuaded Suman that his wallet might still be at risk and guided him through a \u201csecurity protocol\u201d that required him to enter his seed phrase on a site mimicking Coinbase\u2019s interface.<\/p>\n

Nine days later, a second caller, asserting to be from Coinbase, repeated the procedure. At the conclusion of that conversation, all of Suman\u2019s cryptocurrency assets had vanished.<\/p>\n

Crypto scammers posing as Coinbase support. Source: <\/em>NanoBaiter<\/em><\/a> <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Related:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin surges while Coinbase crumbles: Finance Redefined<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Coinbase experiences significant data breach<\/h2>\n

The scam followed a data breach at Coinbase revealed<\/a> this week, where attackers bribed support staff in India to gain access to sensitive user data.<\/p>\n

Compromised information included customer names, account balances, and transaction records. Coinbase confirmed that the breach affected approximately 1% of its monthly active users.<\/p>\n

Among those impacted was venture capitalist Roelof Botha<\/a>, managing partner at Sequoia Capital. There is no indication that his funds were accessed, and Botha opted not to comment.<\/p>\n

Coinbase\u2019s chief security officer, Philip Martin, reportedly\u00a0stated that the contracted customer service agents<\/a> involved in the incident were located in India and had been terminated after the breach.<\/p>\n

The exchange has also announced plans to allocate between $180 million to $400 million for remediation and compensation to affected users.<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Arthur Hayes’ $1M Bitcoin tip, an impending altcoin rally: Hodler\u2019s Digest, May 11 \u2013 17<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n