Coinbase users suffer massive phishing attack
Fake Coinbase emails urge users to transfer assets to fraudulent wallets.
Crypto investors are reporting a surge in scam emails that impersonate Coinbase, urging users to transfer their assets to fraudulent, self-managed wallets before an April 1 deadline.
These deceptive emails claim that Coinbase is required by a court mandate—stemming from a class-action lawsuit alleging the sale of unregistered securities—to transition users into self-custodial wallets, reports Cryptopolitan.
In reality, the alleged lawsuit was dismissed by the US SEC on February 27, exposing the emails as fraudulent.
Phishing Tactics and Immediate Risk
The scam messages instruct recipients to move their digital assets to Coinbase Wallet under the guise of maintaining compliance with regulatory orders. Once users transfer their funds to these compromised wallets, the assets become instantly accessible to the fraudsters, resulting in the immediate theft of all transferred funds.
Examples shared by victims on social media illustrate the urgent and convincing language used, designed to pressure recipients into acting before the purported April 1 deadline.
Coinbase Issues Official Warning
In response to the growing number of scam emails, Coinbase has taken to X to alert its customers, emphasizing that it will never send recovery phrases or instruct users to move assets out of Coinbase custody.
The exchange reiterated that any recovery phrase provided by an external party is a red flag and urged users to disregard such messages. Coinbase’s official statement serves as a reminder for investors to exercise caution and verify all communications through the platform’s verified channels.
Recently we wrote, that in a landmark moment for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong praised the outcomes of the White House Digital Asset Summit, calling it a “historic day.”
