How to Recover from Coinbase Phishing

A friend called in February 2024, totally panicked.

The day before, he received a (fake) email from Coinbase, called their (fake) rep, and gave them his username, password, and one-time SMS code.

When he woke up the next day, his 5.0 BTC were gone. The attackers kindly left $1,000 in my friends account. Worst case scenario, right?

Here are the steps we took, and the results after.

The same week as the hack, we:

• Filed with the FBI's Internet Crime division
  • https://www.ic3.gov/
• Contacted Coinbase's Security Response Team
  • [email protected] (Include your IC3 information)
• Changed my friend's password for Coinbase 

When communicating with Coinbase & the FBI, share as much information as you can.

• All details about the phishing email
• If the phisher gave you additional instructions outside the email thread
• How you communicated with the phisher
• Any other details you have

Its possible you help law enforcement catch the phishers and potentially help others get their funds back. If you are outside the US, you should still file with the FBI and Coinbase - but also file with your local jurisdictions crime agency.

Towards the end of March, my friend had an email from Coinbase saying they backfilled his 5.0 BTC. We aren't sure what happened behind the scenes. Since then, he has withdrawn his 5.0 BTC to self custody.

Results are not guaranteed, but taking these steps is certainly worth the time.

- Keith

PS: If you're moving to self custody, consider subscribing to our email list below, and installing Branta for best-in-class protection of your digital assets.