Brooklyn man sent to prison for 12 years for stealing $16M in a Coinbase phishing scheme
A 23-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for orchestrating a $16 million phishing and social engineering scheme targeting Coinbase users. The case highlights the rising prevalence of individual-targeted crypto fraud.
Why it matters
This sentencing underscores the legal consequences of digital asset theft and the increasing focus of law enforcement on social engineering scams in the cryptocurrency sector.
Ronald Spektor, 23, ran a phishing and social engineering scheme for over a year, convincing his victims that they had been hacked and that they should transfer funds to accounts he controlled, said Eric Gonzalez, a New York district attorney.
Social engineering scams topped crypto threats in 2025 and are getting worse this year. WhiteBIT said nearly 41% of all crypto security incidents last year involved fraudsters deceiving victims. Earlier this month, a 22-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to a network of criminals that netted $245 million mostly from social engineering scams. A Chainalysis report noted that criminals were increasingly targeting individuals rather than infrastructure.
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