Coinbase has warned its customers about a sophisticated phishing scam that targets their accounts and personal information. The scam involves sending fake emails and text messages that appear to come from Coinbase, claiming that there is an issue with the user’s account or that they need to verify their identity.
The messages contain a link that leads to a malicious website that mimics the Coinbase login page and asks for the user’s credentials and payment details.
According to Coinbase, the phishing scam is complex and uses various techniques to evade detection and deceive users. For example, scammers use domain spoofing to make fake emails look like they are coming from @coinbase.com or @support.coinbase.com. They also use URL shorteners or redirects to hide the actual destination of the links.
Additionally, they may use social engineering tactics to create a sense of urgency or fear in the user, such as threatening to suspend or close their account if they do not take action immediately.
Fraudsters Attempted to Scam Popular Crypto Trader
A well-known crypto trader fell victim to a complex phishing scam when hackers tried to empty his Coinbase account, in what he described as “one of the most intricate scams in crypto that I have ever seen.”
On Wednesday, Jacob Canfield alerted Coinbase users of what he suspected was “some kind of data breach.” Canfield got a text message saying that his Coinbase two-factor authentication (2FA) had been altered. Soon after, he got three phone calls from a fake Coinbase customer support line that showed up as a San Francisco number.
The fraudsters contacted Canfield and inquired if he had traveled abroad and requested to change his email and 2FA settings. When he denied it, they texted him a confirmation that they had stopped the changes but directed him to a phony Coinbase ‘security’ team to verify his account to prevent a 48-hour suspension.
Canfield realized the scam soon enough, but he fears that many might be duped by the elaborate phishing scheme. Crypto expert ZachXBT noted that similar scams had targeted others as well.
