Two arrests in connection with the Coinbase data breach
TL;DR
Indian police arrested a former Coinbase agent linked to a data breach involving bribed customer service reps, while a separate phishing case in New York led to charges for stealing $16 million from users.
Source: The Block
Indian law enforcement has arrested a former Coinbase customer service agent in Hyderabad, India in connection with the crypto exchange's data breach disclosed in May, CEO Brian Armstrong announced last week. The breach, which began in Dec. 2024, involved cybercriminals bribing offshore customer service representatives to obtain user data including names, addresses, phone numbers, and government IDs. The attackers demanded a $20 million ransom, which Coinbase refused, instead launching a matching bounty for information leading to arrests. The arrest comes a week after the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in New York indicted Ronald Spektor (who used the handle @lolimfeelingevil), 23, on 31 counts for allegedly stealing $16 million from approximately 100 Coinbase users through a separate phishing scheme. Full Story