Coinbase/AT&T Account Sim Swap signalme

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Coinbase

Reddit user signalme was a customer of both Coinbase and AT&T. They used SMS-based two-factor authentication to secure their Coinbase account, and had a bank account with $3,500 hooked up to their account. Their AT&T account was secured with the highest level of security available at the time, which is a note that requires a passphrase to be provided to the customer support representative. Access to their email address is also required.

On May 17th, 2020, they suffered a SIM swap attack where the SIM card of their phone was transfered to the phone of a hacker. The hacker was then able to use that access to "recover" their Coinbase account, initiate a withdrawal from their bank account, and withdraw the funds into a new bitcoin address on the blockchain. While their bank was able to reverse some portion of the fraud, it is unclear if all funds were returned. An investigation was also launched by state law enforcement. It is unclear what outcome came from the investigation.

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

About Coinbase

"Coinbase is a secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more." "As the leading mainstream cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Coinbase has become a standard on-ramp for new crypto investors. Coinbase offers a wide variety of products including cryptocurrency investing, an advanced trading platform, custodial accounts for institutions, a wallet for retail investors, and its own U.S. dollar stable-coin."

"Coinbase was founded in 2012 and is a fully regulated and licensed cryptocurrency exchange supporting all U.S. states except Hawaii. Coinbase initially only allowed for Bitcoin trading but quickly began adding cryptocurrencies that fit its decentralized criteria." "Its list expanded to include Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and many others with the promise of more as long as its requirements are met."

Reddit user and CoinBase customer signalme had "text authentication and email authentication, too." "[I] do have hardware wallets. I have the text verification (the first step) then the email verification (needed in addition to the first step)." "Through AT[&]T, I have passcode that’s only stored in my head." "[I]n addition to my passcode, AT[&]T said they added the highest level of security on my account."

"[C]oinbase only offer [SMS] and an email link verification, right? ATT only offers a passcode, which is only stored in my head." "I’ve not been around anyone for weeks now. [Y]ou can’t ever be too sure though."

On May 17th, 2020, "a hacker compromised my Coinbase account and bought Bitcoin with every bit of money I had on my debit card. I have no money in the bank now." "[A]t 9:06 someone called [AT&T] to swap, and swapped my SIM card, and took over my phone, and that gave them access to all the app[lication]s on my phone." "They got access to all of my accounts."

"They reset my coinbase passcode." "What they did is used my bank account through my coinbase to purchase bitcoin with all the funds [I] have in the bank." "They got me for $3500, which is all I had in the bank."

"Either the customer service rep[resentative] let them access my account without the passcode or the customer service rep[resentative] is working with one of the big hacker groups that have members employed through these companies."

"I’ve lost hours at work and now all money is gone from the bank."

"I asked [AT&T] what they did[ for the highest level of security. T]hey said they put a note on the account?! A freaking note is the highest level of security they offer?! Ridiculous!" "They have a passcode and that's the highest level security. They said they upped my security. I said 'how's that?' and they said they put a note on it. So notes - the highest security you'll get."

"I’m try[ing] to get AT[&]T to listen to the phone call that did the sim swap to see how the account was verified." "I’m trying to escalate the case at AT[&] to have the call listened to to see if the customer service rep[resentative] even asked for the passcode." "I made a video of AT[&]T admitting fault and responsibility for the sim swap attack, but they didn’t offer a resolution for the time, damages or stolen funds. Even though they said it’s their responsibility!"

"The[ bank's] customer service line listed on the back of the debit card should be able to assist." "I’m praying that[ I can get the bank to do a chargeback], but they don’t open until in the morning. [E]ven their freaking fraud department is closed and it’s a national bank?!"

"The bank is doing a fraud investigation." "The bank credited a couple transactions, but I have to fill out a form for the rest and email it to them." "I had to get a new card today."

"The state police opened up a criminal investigation and wants all the info I’m finding out." "There’s a criminal investigation going on to see if it was an actual call or if customer service verified correctly."

"Coinbase hasn’t done anything!" "I file the case and already got email from Coinbase saying the case is closed, offered no resolution." "Coinbase is not trying to help for any of the funds that the hacker used from my bank account! A regulated US company. I get that they can’t reverse the crypto you already have, but they store our banking info and the hacker used my attached debit card to use USD to purchase Bitcoin that I didn’t even have in the first place." "I’m stuck, I don’t know what to do!"

Coinbase later responded: "[W]e're sorry to hear about this experience you've had. If you've filed a support case with us already, would you mind sharing the case number with us so we can take a look?"

"Additionally, you have not already done so, it is imperative that you report this incident to law enforcement agencies in your jurisdiction immediately including the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) here. Be sure to include as much detail as possible in your report. Coinbase is willing to offer full cooperation with all law enforcement investigations pertaining to your account's compromise."

"We can see that our team actually replied to your email, can you let us know if you received that email? If it's not in your inbox check out your spam or junk folders."

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Coinbase/AT&T Account Sim Swap signalme

Date	Event	Description
May 17th, 2020 7:00:18 PM MDT	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $4,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

The total amount recovered is unknown.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

General Prevention Policies

SMS-based two-factor authentication is known to be a weak form of security, and it would be recommended to avoid it whenever possible. More secure forms of authentication would be specific hardware devices such as YubiKey or an unused computer/phone with an authenticator application.

Other methods of protection would include adding delays on withdrawals whenever an account password is changed, adding a delay for adding a new withdrawal address to an account, detecting access from a new location, or placing delays on withdrawals of large amounts.

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.