Coinbase user loses $11.6 million in crypto in 10 minutes

A US court has approved a warrant to seize more than $600 000 in bitcoin held in a Huobi Global wallet. Investigators determined that the assets are part of cryptocurrency stolen from a Coinbase account worth $11.6 million. According to Business Insider.

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The user of the American exchange, named in court documents as GR, bought 200 BTC in April 2021. Subsequently, a notification appeared that his account was blocked.

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It is unclear how the attacker learned of the transaction. It is also unclear on which device GR received the message, but this marked the first step in the alleged fraud.

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“After granting access to the victim’s account, UI-1 increased the daily transaction limit and attempted to deactivate certain notifications and alert settings in the victim’s account,” according to the prosecutors’ statement.

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According to investigators, within seconds, all funds in bitcoin and XLM were withdrawn from GR’s exchange wallet. Law enforcement estimated total loss at $11,570,138.

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The attacker moved assets between several wallets, with 10.2 BTC ending up at Huobi Global’s address. Prosecutors filed a request with the crypto exchange to confiscate the stolen cryptocurrency.

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In early October, the court approved the request and published a notice, in case anyone other than GR claims an interest in the cryptocurrency.

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A spokesperson for the prosecution confirmed to the publication that Huobi agreed to freeze the funds pending the confiscation action.

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“No one has been arrested yet, no charges have been filed, but the investigation continues,” he noted.

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Earlier reports noted a breach of around six thousand Coinbase user accounts. Hackers exploited a vulnerability in two-factor authentication.

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