Scammer Takes $2,000,000 From Crypto Traders After Posing as Coinbase Support — How It Happened
A recent report from blockchain investigator ZachXBT reveals that a fraudster impersonating Coinbase support staff managed to scam over $2 million worth of crypto from unsuspecting traders. The scammer gained trust by claiming to be official support, then tricked victims into approving transfers from their wallets, which allowed the thief to drain funds.
Once the funds were stolen, the scammer routed them through multiple wallets and mixed them across chains to obscure the trail. On-chain data links the activity to an individual known online as “Haby” or “Havard.” According to the investigation, some of the stolen crypto was spent on luxury bottle service, gambling, and rare social media usernames, underlining just how brazen these scams can be.
This incident highlights a common and growing threat: social-engineering frauds where attackers impersonate support teams from real companies like Coinbase to gain access to users’ wallets. These scams rely on trust manipulation rather than technical vulnerabilities, and they’ve caused millions in cumulative losses recently.
So here’s the question for the community: What precautions do you use to avoid scams like this, especially impersonation attacks, and how should exchanges and platforms better protect users? Drop your thoughts!
5 Answer
The recent $2 million scam involving impersonation of Coinbase support underscores a persistent and evolving risk in the crypto world: social engineering attacks. Unlike exploits that take advantage of smart contract bugs or exchange vulnerabilities, these scams operate by manipulating human trust. Investigators like ZachXBT have traced the activity to an individual using the pseudonyms “Haby” or “Havard,” who allegedly impersonated official support to trick multiple traders into signing wallet approvals that gave the perpetrator access to move their funds.
Once approvals were granted, the scammer consolidated stolen assets through a series of wallets and cross-chain transactions to obscure the provenance before spending on luxury services and gambling. These tactics are designed to stay just ahead of detection and make recovery extremely difficult. Because public blockchains are transparent yet irreversible, once funds leave a user’s wallet via an authorized signature, there’s usually no recourse.
Prevention comes down to two major fronts: user education and platform safety features. Users should be trained to recognize that legitimate support teams will never ask them to sign transactions, share private keys, or enter recovery phrases. Any unsolicited message claiming to be from support should be treated with skepticism and verified through official channels. Using hardware wallets that require a physical button press to authorize transactions adds a strong layer of protection, as does enabling all available security features on wallets and exchanges. Finally, exchanges themselves can help by implementing stronger in-platform warnings, proactive alerts about impersonation scams, and educating users about red flags. Collective awareness and clearer communication from platforms are essential to stem increasingly sophisticated social-engineering frauds.
One of the biggest red flags is unsolicited contact from anyone claiming to be support. Legit companies don’t reach out first asking for approvals or wallet access. Another big sign? They ask you to approve transactions you didn’t initiate , especially if they pressure you with urgency or fear tactics. Always double-check URLs, sender handles, and never give private keys or approve transfers to strangers.
Getting impersonated is terrifying because it feels legitimate at first , the scammer mimics support talk and even uses familiar names. Since this scam, I always verify by logging into the official website independently, contacting support from within the app (not through messages), and never clicking links sent in unsolicited chats.
Platforms should do more to warn users about impersonation scams. Things like official warning banners inside apps, consistent communications about what support will never ask for (e.g., private keys or transaction approvals), and stronger identity verification could reduce this kind of fraud.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) and wallet security measures can help reduce risk, but the biggest protection is behavioral: don’t approve transactions you don’t initiate yourself. Use hardware wallets and never approve mobile pop-ups that ask for access unless you’re 100 % sure why the contract needs that permission.
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