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Points of Focus
- Ronald Spektor received 4–12 years for stealing nearly $16M from about 100 Coinbase users.
- Victims were told their accounts were hacked and moved crypto to attacker-controlled wallets.
- The court ordered nearly $16M in restitution and more than $500,000 in asset forfeiture.
A Brooklyn man who impersonated Coinbase support staff and stole nearly $16 million from about 100 users was sentenced Wednesday to four to 12 years in prison.
Ronald Spektor, 23, pleaded guilty on Sept. 2 to all 31 counts against him, including first-degree money laundering, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said.
🚨 COINBASE SCAMMER STEALS $16M, LOSES $6M GAMBLING
Ronald Spektor, 23, has been sentenced to 4–12 years in prison after stealing nearly $16 million from around 100 Coinbase users through social engineering scams.
Prosecutors say he bragged about the thefts on Telegram as… pic.twitter.com/BKaGj6nBHA
— Defraud (@DefraudTG) September 24, 2026
Coinbase users lost nearly $16M in yearlong scam
Spektor contacted Coinbase users while posing as a company representative and told them their crypto was at risk from hackers. Victims were instructed to move assets into new wallets they believed were under their control, but Spektor could access and drain those wallets.
The DA’s Virtual Currency Unit traced about $15.94 million in losses across roughly 100 US victims. Some lost $1 million or more. Investigators also linked Spektor’s home IP address to wallets receiving stolen crypto and found evidence that he recruited others online to work as social engineers.
Prosecutors said the stolen assets moved through crypto exchanges, swapping and mixing services, gambling platforms and online storefronts. Messages recovered from Spektor’s devices showed he claimed to have lost $6 million in crypto through gambling.
Coinbase says scam didn’t stem from exchange breach
Coinbase, which assisted investigators with customer identification and blockchain tracing, said in a December blog that the DA found no evidence customer information came from a Coinbase security breach. The exchange said the operation relied on impersonation, spoofed communications and pressure to convince users to move funds themselves.
Coinbase also warns that its staff will never ask customers to transfer crypto to a ‘safe wallet,’ the same tactic used in the Spektor case.
Prosecutors sought longer 7–21 year prison term
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun imposed the four-to-12-year sentence despite prosecutors seeking seven to 21 years. Spektor pleaded guilty to the full 31-count indictment in exchange for the promised sentence, which the DA’s office opposed.
Spektor was also ordered to forfeit more than $500,000 in cash, crypto and personal property and pay almost $16 million in restitution. The DA calculated total victim losses at $15,944,000.
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