Just wanted to share a quick experience I had earlier today. I received a text message claiming that there was an unauthorized access to my Coinbase account. Of course I immediately logged in and checked and saw that there was nothing, but just to be sure I replied to the message with one of their prompts saying “this was not me”.
I have 2FA turned on and anytime that I need to transfer or buy it requires my phone and several different steps before the purchase is authenticated. At this time, however, I was not aware that it was a scam.
Soon after, I received a phone call from California from someone claiming to be from Coinbase customer support. They did not ask for my name or any identifying information (which is good because I may have given them the info, still being unsure if it was real or not) but proceeded to tell me that someone from Utah and Virginia was trying to access my account.
They then proceeded to tell me that they removed the unauthorized device from my account and that I shouldn’t worry. I said okay. Next they said that to “better protect my funds” that I should move them into Coinbase Wallet (which didn’t make sense to me as I had told them that my funds are staked and cannot be moved without being unstaked). They told me I should download the Coinbase Wallet app and they’d help me get everything started.
I said, “that’s a good idea I’ll probably do that. Thanks.” I attempted to verbally end the call but they said “you’re not going to do that now?” To which I replied, “I’ll do it on my own time.”
They gave themselves away by saying, “you’re not going to do it now?” and I said, “no?” and then they asked, “why not?”
At this point I hung up, realizing exactly their plan:
Their plan was to scare a Coinbase customer into thinking that their funds were being accessed by an unknown source and to move them into the Coinbase Wallet that they had previously set up. They would probably have told me the pass phrase for the wallet so I could set it up and transfer funds in. Of course, by them knowing the pass phrase, they’d have access to everything I transferred in and I’d be out of an investment.
So, let this be a reminder to the newbies and seasoned veterans alike, NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR PASS PHRASE AND NEVER PUT FUNDS INTO A WALLET WHERE MULTIPLE PEOPLE KNOW THE PASS PHRASE. This scam didn’t work on me but it will likely work on someone. Just a friendly reminder everyone. Stay safe.
[Mods, if you require proof of my story with the phone number of the caller I’d be happy to include it in a comment]
submitted by /u/a-tiberius
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