Coinbase Hack Despite 2FA BradlyL

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CoinBase

BradleyL shares his unfortunate experience of being hacked on Coinbase despite having 2FA enabled. He trusted Coinbase and believed it was secure enough to stake his Ethereum for ETH2. However, after three months, he received a text message notifying him that his 2FA had been changed. Within a short period, the hacker used his saved bank account to purchase BTC and converted some dust to BTC as well. BradleyL expresses frustration at losing years of dedication towards crypto, but clarifies that the majority of his holdings were in ETH2 and inaccessible. He suspects that he may have been SIM swapped or fallen victim to phishing, considering his involvement in the Ledger data leak and being targeted by phishing emails. Coinbase promptly credited the stolen funds from his bank account and he appreciates their responsiveness, but he mentions that they will not compensate for the stolen crypto. BradleyL also shares that he has taken security measures, including running security scans and purchasing a YubiKey.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About Coinbase

"I just got hacked on Coinbase (2fa was on)"

"I’ve been a crypto user for years. I’m strong believer in “Not your keys, not your coins.”

But, I was convinced that Coinbase (along with 2fa) was safe enough, for my to stake my ethereum for ETH2.

It’s been 3 months, and today someone hacked my account (presumably by spoofing my phone number).

I received a text message that my 2FA had been changed. Then within 20 min started getting dozens of emails that the hacker was using my saved bank account to purchase thousands of dollars in BTC. They also converted a few hundred dollars in dust to BTC…and within 15 min….years and years of dedication towards crypto…..GONE (edit: this may have been a little rash. 95% of my holdings were in ETH2, and apparently that has not been able to be withdrawn. At this point I've lost ~$500 in alt dust. Additionally, the vast majority of my holdings are on a Ledger hidden up my ass.)

The scammer now has control of my coins, and account….all I can do is wait for Coinbase to respond, and pray that I get my funds back.

Edit: it seems likely I got SIM swapped - my cell carrier was recently involved in a huge data leak too. Not sure how they bypassed my Google Authenticator, though…

Edit 2:After further discussions, it’s also likely that I got phished. I was also a victim in the Ledger leak - (thankfully majority of my holdings are offline) and I’ve been a target for numerous phishing emails. I thought I had been diligent. But, ya never know.

Edit 3: Would anyone else be amused that I am also a former Bitgrail 'customer'...? FML

Update 1: I spoke with Coinbase - they credited the $2000 that was stolen from my bank account almost instantly. Of corse, my bank basically told me to get lost and good luck. I genuinely give Coinbase credit for how prompt they’ve been. They even refunded the $2k, prior to me finalizing the account access. So, I'll update once I have regained access to my account.

Also, for those interested - I ran a full security scan of both my iphone and PC - neither of which seem have any threats detected. - looking as though the most likely explanation is a phishing breach (I'm embarrassed to even consider it), coupled with a data leak that I was involved in.

Update 2: I can’t believe that I needed to actually provide proof , as if I haven’t been here for years, and don’t have better things to do with my time (more proof )

Update 3: I purchased a yubikey. Coinbase will not compensate for the stolen crypto."

"They have a phone number that is available for accounts that have security issues. I googled it."

"I was involved in the Ledger data leak, as a result, I’m a target for a lot of phishing emails. I feel like I’m fairly diligent about receiving anything to do with Crypto, and fishing emails in general.

But, like anyone else I make mistakes, and falling victim to a phishing scam is possible, even without me recalling how/when it could have happened."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

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 Hack Despite 2FA BradlyL

Date	Event	Description
September 27th, 2021 12:42:17 PM MDT	Reddit Post	The incident is posted on Reddit.

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

$2k lost estimate $3k ($2k fiat + $1k crypto)

The total amount lost has been estimated at $3,000 USD.

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

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

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?

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.