Crypto detective says social engineering attacks are uniquely plaguing Coinbase, with annual losses now pegged at $330 million.
Onchain investigator and well-known security analyst ZachXBT has uncovered an additional $45 million siphoned from Coinbase users in just the past week, spotlighting an escalating wave of social engineering scams that continues to hit the U.S.-based crypto exchange harder than any of its peers.
In a recent update shared with the crypto community, ZachXBT said this latest haul is part of a broader trend of Coinbase users losing over nine figures in digital assets to deceptive schemes in recent months. “Competitors like Kraken, OKX, and Binance do not have the same issue,” he noted, underscoring what he described as a Coinbase-specific vulnerability.
The new $45 million figure pushes the estimated annual loss from such scams targeting Coinbase customers to a staggering $330 million. These attacks often involve fraudsters impersonating Coinbase support staff or using elaborate phishing techniques to trick users into giving up account access.
In July 2024, a notable incident saw scammers posing as Coinbase support personnel drain $1.7 million from a single user. That summer, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alerted crypto users of rising scam tactics involving fake exchange representatives aiming to steal funds and personal data.
The FBI followed up in September with an expanded warning highlighting an emerging method where scammers—some linked to North Korean hacking groups—lure victims with fake job offers. These ploys often involve the installation of malware disguised as employment assessments or investment applications.
In March 2025, another tactic emerged: phishing emails mimicking legitimate crypto exchange communications began prompting users to move their assets to fraudulent external wallets.
The scale and creativity of these attacks have prompted Coinbase’s chief security officer, Phillip Martin, to call for industry-wide collaboration. He proposed creating a centralized reporting framework to track better, report, and respond to scams targeting crypto users.
If you want to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
