Coinbase Accounts Restricted Amid Fraud Concerns

Reports emerged over the weekend from Coinbase customers stating their accounts were suddenly restricted. In response, the official @CoinbaseSupport account took to X, asking users to "Please bear with us and don’t believe everything you see on Twitter."

Concerns have grown surrounding attacks on Coinbase users, with numerous accounts targeted on Saturday night. Pseudonymous security researcher @pcaversaccio reported that several accounts were drained by those impersonating Coinbase support.

The term "skiddies" refers to inexperienced hackers who use basic scripts for exploits.

The @CoinbaseSupport account mentioned, "We’ve seen a surge of new and returning users post-election," correlating this with a 2-3x increase in fraudulent attempts as the platform’s fraud-prevention systems were reportedly effective, saving users tens of millions in losses within November.

Coinbase's approach to users employing VPNs attracted criticism when product director Scott Shapiro stated, "attackers always use VPNs." He clarified that while a VPN alone does not cause account flags, its combination with various risky indicators could result in a false positive requiring additional security reviews.

Securely utilizing a VPN is deemed essential by users like @pcaversaccio, who pointed out that it protects against public Wi-Fi threats and tracking. Nick Percoco, security officer at Kraken, critiqued Coinbase for making users choose between safety and financial freedom. Requests for further comments from Coinbase and Shapiro were not met.

Concerns about support accessibility were also raised during the weekend. Taylor Monahan from MetaMask remarked on this issue, alluding to the expectation of 24/7 support in the crypto space.

The @CoinbaseSupport account acknowledged the rise in fraud attempts, leading to a minor uptick in account restrictions and longer customer service wait times, urging users not to jump to conclusions.

The thread concluded with assurances that if accounts were restricted, Coinbase was actively working to respond as quickly as possible.