Report: Canadian Teen Arrested for Pretending to Support Coinbase to Steal $4M in BTC and ETH

The teens posed as Coinbase's support team to scam victims.

Two teenagers from Hamilton, Ontario have been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $4 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) from an American man in what authorities describe as a "spear phishing attack." catch.

According to local reports, Hamilton police began investigating the boys in June 2023 in cooperation with the FBI and the Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force.

Spear Phishing Attack

Const. Krista-Lee Ernst of Hamilton Police pointed out that the two 17-year-old boys used spear-phishing attacks to trick victims into giving them $4.2 million in cryptocurrency.

Spear phishing is a form of targeted phishing used by scammers to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, or other personal data. Unlike traditional phishing attacks, which cast a wide net, spear phishing attacks are highly personalized, tailored to specific individuals or organizations.

In a spear phishing attack, bad actors conduct thorough research to gather information about the target, such as their name, title, company, colleagues, and even personal details from social media platforms. Armed with this information, scammers can craft compelling, customized emails or messages that appear to come from trusted sources, such as colleagues, supervisors, or reputable organizations related to the target.

In the case of the Hamilton teens, the pair, known by the pseudonyms "Felon" and "Gaze," pretended to be members of the support team at popular U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Their aim was to take over the man's cryptocurrency account on the exchange.

Over $13 million seized

After successfully taking control of the account, the boys were able to access the man's digital assets stored on the platform.

According to police, the teens spent some of the funds to purchase the Instagram username "@zombie," which is a rare username in the gaming community. Police also seized digital assets worth at least $13.4 million after the arrest.

Although authorities initially arrested two teens, only one was charged with theft of more than $5,000 and possession of property or proceeds of crime, while the other was released.