$FUN

Retired artist loses 2 million dollars in cryptocurrencies to a Coinbase impersonator

A retired manufacturer was tricked into entering his seed phrase on a fake Coinbase site, losing a cryptocurrency portfolio worth 2 million dollars. The retired artist Ed Suman lost more than 2 million dollars in cryptocurrencies earlier this year after falling victim to a scam involving someone posing as a Coinbase support representative.

Suman, 67, spent nearly two decades as a manufacturer in the art world, helping to build high-profile works such as Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog sculptures, according to a May 17 report from Bloomberg.

After retiring, he turned to investing in cryptocurrencies, eventually accumulating 17.5 Bitcoin (BTC) and 225 Ether

ETH

2246 €

, a portfolio that comprised most of his retirement savings.

He stored the funds in a Trezor Model One, a hardware wallet commonly used by cryptocurrency holders to avoid the risks of hacks on exchanges. But in March, Suman received a text message that appeared to come from Coinbase, warning him about unauthorized access to his account.

After responding, he received a call from a man who identified himself as a member of Coinbase's security staff named Brett Miller. The caller seemed knowledgeable, correctly stating that Suman's funds were stored in a hardware wallet.