Onchain sleuth and security analyst ZackXBT claims to have identified an additional $45 million in funds stolen from Coinbase users through social engineering scams in the past seven days alone.
According to the onchain detective, the $45 million figure represents the latest financial losses in a string of social engineering scams targeting Coinbase users, which ZackXBT said is a problem unique among crypto exchanges:
“Over the past few months, I have reported on nine figures stolen from Coinbase users via similar social engineering scams. Interestingly, no other major exchange has the same problem.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Coinbase but was unable to get a response by the time of publication.
The claims made by ZackXBT place the total amount lost by Coinbase users to social engineering scams at $330 million annually and reflect the growing number of sophisticated attack strategies employed by threat actors to defraud crypto holders.
Related: $330M Bitcoin social engineering theft victim is elderly US citizen
FBI issues warnings on social engineering scams targeting crypto users
In July 2024, reports emerged that several Coinbase users were targeted by scammers posing as the exchange’s support staff. The scammers managed to drain $1.7 million from one user.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning in August 2024, sounding the alarm on scammers posing as crypto exchanges in an attempt to steal user funds and sensitive user data.
The FBI expanded this warning in September 2024, highlighting the use of fake employment offers from scammers targeting crypto users.
According to the FBI, North Korean state-affiliated hacking groups would direct victims to download malicious software by disguising the software packages as employment tests, job applications, and information on investment opportunities.
More recently, in March 2025, crypto users reported an uptick in scam emails imitating legitimate communication from crypto exchanges, directing users to withdraw their funds to external wallets.
The growing variety and sophistication of social engineering scams prompted Coinbase chief security officer Phillip Martin to call for streamlining the scam reporting process by having a single, unified framework or repository for identifying and combating scams.
Magazine: Real AI use cases in crypto, No. 3: Smart contract audits & cybersecurity
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