Date Received: 2023-09-29
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I filed a complaint with the CFPB on XX/XX/2023 ( Complaint # XXXX ), the Company response XXXX was that they released the funds for me to withdrawal. In fact they have not, I have tried for the last 4 days to withdraw and they continue to hold the funds.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 92081
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-29
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-04
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Commencing on or about XX/XX/, I fell victim to two multi-layered scam operations run by XXXX which involved me making deposits for a total amount of XXXX USD from my XXXX account to Coinbase Inc at the instructions of the scammers.
Company Response:
State: KS
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-04
Issue: Money was not available when promised
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I began trading on the Coinbase Wallet application called " Coinbase Decentralized Finance Wallet '' in XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX was purchased on the Coinbase exchange application and sent to my personal wallet within the XXXX XXXX application. Over the course of several months I made trades and accumulated profits in my wallet. I made several small withdrawals to understand the process and ensure that the digital currency could be extracted when I wanted to cash out of the trading. In late XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXXXXXX & XX/XX/XXXXXXXX ) I attempted to send significant profits from the wallet to my Coinbase exchange application to send back by wire to my bank account. These transactions were denied and when I contacted customer service within the application I was told that taxes needed to be paid to the platform prior to withdrawal. I told them this was irregular as taxes would be filed and submitted to the IRS when I completed my taxes for the XXXX calendar year. The taxes I was told owed were calculated at 29 % of profits and they told me the amount due would be {$23000.00}. On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX I contacted customer service and told them I had assembled the taxes and they provided a crypto address to send payment and then funds would be ok to withdraw in full. Payment was sent to the address provided and due to the nature of virtual currency money arrived in the address higher than the amount due. Customer service told me that since the amount was not the " exact amount '' ( even though I typed the exact amount in transfer screen ) that the funds were credited to my account as a " recharge '' and that they could not return them and I would have to pay the full tax amount again to get access to funds for withdrawal. Obviously raising over {$23000.00} is not an easy task for a retired person so I continued to do nothing with my account while I raised the required funds. On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX I raised the funds and again contacted customer service for the tax address. The taxes sent again exceeded the taxes due but this time they credited the overage to my wallet funds. I asked customer service if it was OK to withdraw the funds and was told YES. On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX I attempted twice to remove funds and not transactions were denied. I contacted customer service on the reason for this blocking of the withdrawal and was told that because I had received funds from third party in my account it was now being flagged as money laundering account. They told me I would have to send a copy of my license and also post a margin ( aka bond ) in the amount of {$50000.00} ( to be credited as a recharge to my wallet ) and they would audit my credentials and as long as it cleared audit then the margin would be added to my wallet account and the full funds would be available for withdrawal. On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX I contacted customer service and asked for the amount to be fixed so I could transfer the funds as a " recharge '' which they gave me direction to send {$51000.00} which was sent and they acknowledged receipt. I was told the audit would take 1-3 business days and to contact them before I attempt next withdrawal. On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX I contacted customer service and was told the account passed the audit and no money laundering was suspected and it was OK to withdraw funds. I submitted a withdrawal request which was denied. I again contacted customer service about this latest denial and I was then told that my account " lacked sufficient credit rating to make a withdrawal and that if I wanted to improve this I needed to deposit {$75000.00} into my wallet and the funds would then be fully available to withdrawal. '' I told customer service that there was no more money and that I had loans and other outstanding obligations I had incurred because of all the other funds I was required to pay under the false pretense of allowing me to withdraw funds. I was then told by customer service that I could wait 3 months for my credit to rating to improve as time based increase in lieu of paying what essentially was a ransom payment. I've asked several times over the course of all this for copy of the rules and regulations they are citing but was denied access to these and they claimed they are not allowed to share with customers the rules they expect customers to follow. Subsequently I asked and demanded the release of my funds and was told if I didn't make monthly payment of {$15000.00} then the funds would be frozen and the account funds seized. The seized funds would then be " given to charity '' without my authorization or direction. I feel this violates the personal property laws of not only the federal government but also the state of California where Coinbase is headquartered and also Massachusetts where I reside. I have all the screenshots of the interactions with customer service and if required I can submit as evidence to support this case.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-04
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX allowed someone to swap my sim card. An unauthorized user had access to my number for XXXX hours and was able to change passwords and log on to my Coinbase account and steal XXXX XXXX XXXX. I had insurance that i paid for every month since it was offered on an upgraded Coinbase account. Coinbase did an investigation and concluded that someone did gain access to my account and steal XXXX XXXX XXXX. They said my insurance i paid for every month did not cover the theft and did not tell me why. I lost my family 's life savings and Coinbase refused to reimburse me for the theft even though i had insurance to cover it.
Company Response:
State: CO
Zip: 80918
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-05
Issue: Money was not available when promised
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XXXX XX/XX/, I transferred {$11000.00} into Coinbase account. I have had account with coinbase for longtime. But this time, though, they promise access to funds with in 5 days, they made me wait until XXXX XXXX XXXX. Today, I tried to access the funds and transfer it, my account got locked. The instruction was to contact support. Called the phone number and there was no response. Then I used chat to contact the customer service. The rep that came on named, XXXX, spent not much time in understanding and resolving the issue. He came back and messaged saying it will take another 6 DAYS to resolve the issue. I told him I can not wait that long and need access to the account and funds urgently. His response was it will take 6 days and there is nothing that can be done. Coinbase is routinely causing issues to customers it seems. On line search shows many complaints and frustration that we can get nothing done thru " customer support and there is no way to escalate the issue either. They said, if the issue was not resolved, then we can launch a compliant. I submitted the complaint and the automated response I got was, it will take them 45 DAYS, to reply.!!! I have already been delayed and now this. This is extremely distressing and they are playing games to hold on to my money illegally. This is unacceptable. They need to provide access to my account and funds asap. It should not take them 6 working days to get this done. I don't know if Coinbase is genuine anymore and scared that I may lose money. As you see in the attachment enclosed, they just list the complaint and do not show any other information that was exchanged. Everything with this company is suspicious and they are really taking customers for granted once they have access to our money. PLEASE HELP ASAP. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 78728
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-29
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Company to contact. Coinbase.com XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, DE XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Starting in XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX, I was involved in a cryptocurrency trading scam. I met a person via XXXX dating site. I was asked to " invest '' using a fraudulent copy of XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. ( see below ) Wire transfer to Coinbase XX/XX/XXXX- {$100000.00} Within Coinbase.com, money was converted to crypto and transferred to the fake websites XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). These websites are identical and appear to be owned by a XXXX company XXXX XXXX XXXX. Once the Crypto was loaded to these websites, I was instructed to make trades which appeared to be very profitable. I started with small amounts and even withdrew ~ {$10000.00} initially to ensure my money was safe. As the transactions got higher, the profits got higher until I finally decided to withdraw at least my investment plus the amount need to cover income taxes- it was that large withdrawal that was not completed, and my account was subsequently frozen. the only contact email I have with the person I was working with is an email address, XXXX details of the transactions between the website/exchanges are in the attached documents.
Company Response:
State: IA
Zip: 515XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-29
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-28
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Commencing on or around XX/XX/2023, I fell victim to two multi-layered scam operations run by a XXXX clone entity which involved me making deposits for a total amount of XXXX USD from my XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX account to fraudulent investment firm ( s ).
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 34787
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-28
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-02
Issue: Other service problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Good morning : Coinbase disabled my digital wallet without any evidence and they don't even let me withdraw the money I have stored. I have already tried to contact the company but they do not answer me. Is there any way that you can help me? Thank you for your time.
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-02
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Commencing on or around XXXX XXXX I fell victim to two multi-layered scam operations run by XXXX and XXXX which involved me making deposits for a total amount of XXXX XXXX from my Coinbase account to fraudulent investment firm ( s ).
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 78681
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-10-02
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Problem making or receiving payments
Consumer Complaint: My girlfriend and I purchased groceries on her girlfriend 's XXXX account on XXXX XXXX ising my Coinbase wallet debit card. The order total was XXXX but XXXX placed a hold for extra funds in case adjustments were made to the order for substituted items. The total hold amount was {$100.00}. So the difference was to be returned to me. Normally I receive these types of returned adjustments in minutes, or in some case no more than 3 to 5 business days in light if the allowed 1_10 day timeframe because it never and should never take that long after they have marked a transaction as completed. Coinbase marked the total amount t if {$100.00} authorized complete on the purchase date. They should not have marked this complete to the merchant not submitting that value as the final amount. I have since been waiting for these balances to be returned to my Coinbase card account in the amount if approximately {$25.00}. I believe the merchant and/ or the bank are handling these types of processes with little regard to the consumer once it reaches the point of just unnecessary delays. And it has been proven that the amount was finalized already. I can not get any type of update ipr help from Coinbase and in this regard, after further reviewing my account, I can see this transaction shows pending foe {$100.00}, however they also marked it as authorized completed. In addition to this issue I have discovered pending transactions that are over 1 year old from XXXX XXXX, XXXX and also another from XXXX of XXXX. There have been at least 3 occasions whereas Coinbase has not properly reconciled my balance payments and ultimately kept monies from XXXX purchases that they had on hold and never returned to me. Due to the confusing way that they delivered amd changed the transaction settlement dates, it makes it impossible for me to prove the overages so I ultimately end up taking the lose and just end up hoping rhat they will discover the overage upon their end of the year reports, but they did not. They owe me over {$75.00}, not including the current XXXX adjusted balance from the transaction on XXXX XXXX, for additional transactions in crypto purchases in the Coinbase app, and in store purchases using my Coinbase card. The transactions were either cancelled in some instances or placed on hold and never reconciled. At this point I am just frustrated and perhaps am leaning towards demanding an investigation into the handling of their customer account funds and banking transaction/activities.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 92545
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A