Coinbase Crypto Scam Linked to Customer Data Leak in India

Recent developments in the Coinbase crypto scam case suggest that the crypto exchange knew about the data leak for a while. According to an article published on 3 May 2025 by Reuters, Coinbase had known about the data leak since January.

TaskUs, an outsourcing firm, is connected to this breach that might cost Coinbase up to $400 million in damages. According to a 14 May 2025 SEC filing, an Indian employee at the company took pictures of her work computer using her private phone, contributing to the breach.

The Indian employee, along with her accomplice, was allegedly stealing Coinbase customer data and selling it to hackers for monetary gain. Once caught, Coinbase was immediately notified of this matter.

More than 200 TaskUs employees were then let go of their positions after Coinbase was notified of this incident.

Key details on how the Coinbase KYC leak happened.

TaskUs, a US-based task outsourcing company, claims that the breach was conducted by only two of its Indian employees based in Indore.

Also this confirms Coinbase knew about the leak, but did not properly report it in timely… pic.twitter.com/MhYpSFyWji

— Mikko Ohtamaa (@moo9000) June 3, 2025

TaskUs, in their statement, said, “We believe these two individuals were recruited by a much broader, coordinated criminal campaign against this client that also impacted several other providers servicing this client.”

Plaintiffs had previously filed a class action lawsuit in a Manhattan court to establish a link between TaskUs and the data breach last week.

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Coinbase Crypto Scam Explained

It all came to a head on 11 May 2025 when Coinbase received an anonymous email claiming to have stolen customer data. The investigation revealed that hackers had bribed several employees to obtain access to internal communication, data, and tools.

The hackers then proceeded to impersonate Coinbase staff and trick the users on the platform to hand over their crypto. Furthermore, they then demanded that Coinbase pay a ransom of $20 million to prevent the release of the stolen data.

Coinbase played hardball instead and went public with the incident. They promised to reimburse those affected and have also set up a $20 million fund for those who can help the company bring the perpetrators to justice.

The crypto exchange has reminded its users that asking for passwords is not an operating procedure that the company follows and has urged users to remain vigilant in this matter.

The $400 million damage that Coinbase faces includes costs involving reimbursing users, fixing the breach and legal resources that the company might take.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that TaskUs has faced accusations of a data breach. Ledger, a crypto wallet maker, accused the company of leaking sensitive information along with Shopify in 2022.

According to the lawsuit, TaskUs and Shopify knew about the data leak for over a week before notifying their customers.

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Hackers are Now Targeting Bigger Exchanges

According to a Chainalysis report, hackers stole approximately $2.2 billion worth of crypto from crypto platforms in 2024. Hackers are now getting more creative and going after bigger exchanges. Similar to hackers impersonating Coinbase representatives, hackers in Australia were impersonating Binance representatives to gain access to crypto wallets.

The modus operandi was somewhat similar, leading to the Australian authorities launching Operation Firestorm in collaboration with international law agencies to nab the culprits.

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Key Takeaways

An Indian employee at the outsourcing firm TaskUs took pictures of her work computer using her private phone, contributing to the breach
Leder, a crypto wallet maker, has previously accused TaskUs of a data breach
Hackers are now going after bigger exchanges like Binance and Coinbase

The post Coinbase Crypto Scam Linked to Customer Data Leak in India appeared first on 99Bitcoins.

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