A man from Brooklyn, New York was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison for phishing

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, 23-year-old Brooklyn man Ronald Spektor was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison for committing phishing and social engineering fraud. Over approximately one year, Spektor impersonated Coinbase customer service, luring about 100 American users to transfer cryptocurrency to wallets under his control, claiming "accounts were hacked and assets were at risk," stealing nearly 15.94 million dollars in total.

Subsequently, he laundered the money through multiple exchanges, mixing services, and cryptocurrency gambling platforms. On September 2, he pleaded guilty to all 31 charges, including first-degree money laundering and first-degree grand larceny, and was ordered to forfeit cash, cryptocurrency, and personal property valued at over 500,000 dollars, while also needing to pay restitution of nearly 16 million dollars. Investigations revealed that he had publicly flaunted his criminal gains on platforms like Telegram.