A man disguised as a Coinbase employee to defraud approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency assets

According to The Block, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office announced on Friday that a 23-year-old Brooklyn man has been charged with 31 counts for allegedly carrying out a phishing scam that stole approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency from about 100 Coinbase users.

Ronald Specter, a resident of Sheepshead Bay, is charged with first-degree grand larceny and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that Specter impersonated a Coinbase representative to contact victims, warning them that their assets were at risk of a hacking attack. He is accused of tricking users into transferring their assets to a new wallet that he secretly controlled, and then laundering the funds through cryptocurrency mixers, exchange services, and gambling platforms.