Crimes derived from cryptocurrencies have experienced their greatest boom in the last year, at the same time that this type of asset has become popular. In 2021, these illicit activities marked a historical record reaching 14,000 million dollars, according to Chainalysis. This situation forces a question to be asked: are cryptocurrency trading platforms safe?
As cryptocurrencies have spread through society’s investment portfolios, so have the crimes derived from them. These cybercriminals have continually come up with new ways to find the security breach of trading platforms and crypto wallets.
Specifically, one of the entities that is attracting the most fraud is Coinbase, the largest in the US. This platform is witnessing a new scam involving bots.
Victims receive a call from ‘Coinbase anti-fraud service’
To carry out this scam, cybercriminals use automated bots, a technology that mimics that of any recorded message from a company.
The scammers call the victim, impersonating Coinbase’s anti-fraud service, as reported by CNBC. When the platform client answers the call, he answers the typical robotic voice of automated messages: “Hello, welcome to the Coinbase security prevention line. We have detected unauthorized activity due to a failed login attempt at your account”, they say from the other end of the phone.
Cybercriminals alert the victim that someone is trying to access their virtual wallet, and urge them to verify their movement: “If it is not you, press ‘1’, to complete the precautions to recover your account.”
Once the account owner presses the ‘1’ button, the call goes to a real ‘assistant’. This person, posing as a Coinbase employee, asks the victim to give up their password and relinquish control of their device so they can fix the problem.
Once the victim has provided this information and control of the computer, tablet or smartphone, the cybercriminal can act at will within their Coinbase account.
Through this scam, Dr. Anders Apgar, a client of the platform, lost nearly $70,000, as he told CNBC.
For his part, David Silver, another Coinbase client, had more luck than Apgar, since he is a lawyer specializing in cases of financial fraud and cryptocurrencies. When the lawyer received the call, he followed the game of cybercriminals to understand the fraud process, only he did hang up the call when they urged him to relinquish control of his device.
Bots are easily bought on Telegram
This fraud is linked to the double authentication security system. A process to which society has become accustomed, since they live with it on a daily basis, when they have to carry out any procedure with a bank electronically.
For this reason, they need both the password and control of the device, in order to respond to the authentication message. Cybercriminals use bots to inspire confidence in the victim, they take advantage of the person’s fear and doubt so that they act quickly and without thinking.
The problem becomes more serious when it comes to the fact that these bots can be easily purchased on Telegram. Here, scammers can purchase a monthly subscription for as little as $100, or an infinite bot pack for $4,000.
Complaints grow towards Coinbase
Dr. Apgar is just one of many victims linked to Coinbase. He kept $106,000 on the platform, mainly in bitcoins. After the call of these cybercriminals he only saved 31,000 dollars.
According to the American media, complaints about the Coinbase service have become widespread. A large part of the platform’s clients have witnessed how cybercriminals have emptied their virtual wallets.
However, when they turned to the company, they were unable to get help. It should be noted that Coinbase has implemented a telephone support line to help customers, but it has also not served to reduce fraud.
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