Prosecutors say 23‑year‑old Ronald Spektor ran a phishing campaign posing as Coinbase staff that tricked about 100 users into moving roughly $16 million in crypto to wallets he controlled. He faces multiple felony counts, remains in custody, and the case underscores continuing large‑scale social‑engineering fraud targeting crypto users.

A Brooklyn grand jury indicted 23‑year‑old Ronald Spektor on multiple felony charges after prosecutors say he orchestrated a social‑engineering and phishing campaign that posed as Coinbase employees to defraud users. Authorities allege the scheme convinced approximately 100 victims to transfer about $16 million in cryptocurrency to accounts and wallets under Spektor's control. Arrest documents indicate the campaign involved impersonation, fabricated support communications and inducements that led victims to hand over account access or approve transfers. Law enforcement efforts are ongoing to trace, freeze and recover funds, and prosecutors emphasized the coordinated investigative work required to follow crypto flows and identify conversion points. The indictment and custody status highlight both the scale of modern phishing operations targeting centralized exchange users and the resource intensity of pursuing digital asset fraud across wallets and intermediaries. The case is being cited by fraud investigators as an example of how attackers blend technical know‑how with social‑engineering to exploit trust in major platforms, and it reinforces warnings for users to verify support contacts, enable strong account protections and treat unsolicited account requests with skepticism.