{"id":849180,"date":"2025-05-18T09:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T14:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/retired-artist-loses-2m-in-crypto-to-coinbase-impersonator\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T09:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T14:11:55","slug":"retired-artist-loses-2m-in-crypto-to-coinbase-impersonator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/retired-artist-loses-2m-in-crypto-to-coinbase-impersonator\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired artist loses $2M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

A retired fabricator was tricked into entering his seed phrase on a fake Coinbase site, losing a crypto portfolio worth $2 million. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/span> 4000 <\/span> Total views <\/span><\/p>\n

9 <\/span> Total shares <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Retired<\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Retired artist Ed Suman lost over $2 million in cryptocurrency earlier this year after falling victim to a scam involving someone posing as a Coinbase support representative.<\/p>\n

Suman, 67, spent nearly two decades as a fabricator in the art world, helping build high-profile works such as Jeff Koons\u2019 Balloon Dog<\/em> sculptures, according to a May 17 report<\/a> by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

After retiring, he turned to cryptocurrency investing, eventually accumulating 17.5 Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) and 225 Ether (ETH<\/a>) \u2014 a portfolio that comprised most of his retirement savings.<\/p>\n

He stored the funds in a Trezor Model One, a hardware wallet commonly used by crypto holders to avoid the risks of exchange hacks. But in March, Suman received a text message appearing to be from Coinbase, warning him of unauthorized account access.<\/p>\n

After responding, he got a phone call from a man identifying himself as a Coinbase security staffer named Brett Miller. The caller appeared knowledgeable, correctly stating that Suman\u2019s funds were stored in a hardware wallet.<\/p>\n

He then convinced Suman that his wallet could still be vulnerable and walked him through a \u201csecurity procedure\u201d that involved entering his seed phrase into a website mimicking Coinbase\u2019s interface.<\/p>\n

Nine days later, a second caller claiming to be from Coinbase repeated the process. By the end of that call, all of Suman\u2019s crypto holdings were gone.<\/p>\n

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

Related:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin breaks out while Coinbase breaks down: Finance Redefined<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Coinbase suffers major data breach<\/h2>\n

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

Stolen data included customer names, account balances, and transaction histories. Coinbase confirmed the breach impacted roughly 1% of its monthly transacting users.<\/p>\n

Among those affected was venture capitalist Roelof Botha<\/a>, managing partner at Sequoia Capital. There is no indication that his funds were accessed, and Botha declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Coinbase\u2019s chief security officer, Philip Martin, reportedly\u00a0said the contracted customer service agents<\/a> at the center of the controversy were based in India and had been fired following the breach.<\/p>\n

The exchange has also said it plans to pay between $180 million and $400 million in remediation and reimbursement to affected users.<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins\u2019 powerful rally\u2019 looms: Hodler\u2019s Digest, May 11 \u2013 17<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n