According to a new investigation from crypto sleuth ZachXBT, scammer Ronald Spektor impersonated Coinbase support as part of a phishing operation. He stole at least $6.5 million in October alone.
However, Spektor’s trail has gone cold; more than half of the funds from this theft remain untraced, along with his accomplices and other victims.
A Scammer Impersonating Coinbase
A new investigation from crypto sleuth ZachXBT has uncovered a major phishing operation which stole at least $6.5 million last month. Scammer Ronald Spektor would impersonate Coinbase support to lure victims. One victim notified ZachXBT after losing this massive sum of money, and Zach subsequently investigated on-chain data.
Although crypto thefts as a whole have been on the decline, sophisticated phishing scams are growing in complexity. Spektor’s efforts fall into this category, due to the scale of damages and extensive security measures. Specifically, he was able to cover his tracks at least partially before Zach publicized the investigation.
“Multiple databreaches have publicly exposed Ronald’s information… which links to other breaches containing his alleged full name. Unfortunately, this case does not have a happy ending. It still remains uncertain who Ronald’s accomplices were… as the Ledger screenshots only shows $3.1 million out of the $6.5 million that was stolen,” ZachXBT claimed.
As part of his cover-up, Spektor deleted multiple social media accounts, which had been a valuable resource of incriminating evidence. Scammers have been deserting the TON ecosystem en masse, but Spektor was an active Telegram user. The TON address connected to his profile was used to launder assets. Both his Telegram and X accounts, however, are now shut down.
A Phishing-Associated Wallet, Posted on Spektor’s Telegram Bio. Source: ZachXBT
The scammer used this wallet to process multiple Coinbase transactions, indicating an undetermined number of other victims. Unfortunately, Spektor’s trail has apparently gone cold. ZachXBT did not post any information about his leads on the unaccounted money or Spektor’s at-large accomplices.
Nonetheless, this publicized investigation may lead to new information. Earlier this month, OpSec’s CEO and entire core team resigned after a ZachXBT investigation. Zach identified a number of questionable activities from the company owner, which corroborated employees’ own suspicions. These employees came forward weeks after Zach publicized his findings.
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