Coinbase suffers major cyber-attack; customers’ stolen info used to scam them

Coinbase reported that a cyber attack against its systems resulted in customer data being stolen and used in scams.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reported that a cyber attack against its systems resulted in customer data being stolen, which was then used to scam these customers.

The attack happened when the hackers bribed Coinbase’s overseas customer support agents to copy data in its customer support tools, noted the company in a blog post.

The cost of the attack could be as high as $400 million, reported BBC. Coinbase’s shares were down by a little over 4%.

The attackers aimed to use the stolen information in order to impersonate legitimate Coinbase employees and scam people into giving up their crypto. They also attempted to extort money from Coinbase itself, in exchange for covering up the breach.

“Cyber criminals bribed and recruited rogue overseas support agents to pull personal data on

Coinbase stressed that a small percentage of users was affected by the incident and that user information such as names, bank account numbers, fragments of social security numbers, account data, government ID images, and corporate data had been stolen.

However, the company said that login credentials, private keys, and access to customer accounts had not been compromised. Coinbase promised to reimburse customers who had been scammed into sending funds to the attackers. Affected customers have been notified, per the company, while some transactions may be delayed due to increased security monitoring.