Date Received: 2023-06-06
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Hello, I am going to recap to quickly rehash the theft and reason for the case to be open. The value of my account on XX/XX/XXXX prior to the theft, was XXXX. After the theft I was left with XXXX. Coinbase admitted negligence a year later, and on XX/XX/XXXX sent XXXX. I then responded to Coinbase again using the same case number asking for the remaining balance due to me. Coinbase never replied to my attempts at contact. All of the sudden I received an email in regard to a deposit of XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. This leaves a remaining balance of XXXX. I am still looking for the full balance returned from Coinbase. They have admitted fault and have paid almost all that is due to me. I am just asking that the remaining XXXX be returned to me. Furthermore, I'd like to draw attention to some unusual activity on Coinbase 's Website. I have a screen capture from XX/XX/XXXX of My Assests selected to All- where you can see the XXXX that was in my account prior to the theft. I went in XX/XX/XXXX to My Assests selected to All and now there is no record of XX/XX/XXXX. I am unsure how the account history can be altered so dramatically. Is this legal? I am attaching the screenshots for your reference.
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 626XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-06-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-06-02
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: He sent me an amount of XXXX usdt on my wallet in Coinbase, and now they refuse to withdraw the amount. They say the currency is fake, and it is in my wallet, and I can not withdraw it or send it to another wallet, noting that the date of the transfer is on XX/XX/2023, and this is the transfer link for confirmation as well. XXXX : XXXX
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-06-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-06-02
Issue: Problem with customer service
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I bought {$10000.00} in XXXX after making XXXX deposits to Coinbase ( XXXX. ) They put the XXXX deposits on a 10 day hold about the XXXX of XXXX this year. During that time, XX/XX/XXXX, I made an approximately $ XXXX loan with XXXX securing it with the XXXX. At that time XX/XX/2023 XXXX put restrictions on my account due to a login from a computer in XXXX. These restrictions were to last for XXXX business days while my account was reviewed. Those restrictions were supposed to be removed on XX/XX/XXXX. They were not. During this time I could not pay my debt to XXXX because cash uploads were restricted. This restriction has continued to this day XX/XX/2023. The review did determine that they wanted to keep the restrictions permanent. This left me with XXXX XXXX to pay my loan off and they were able to keep all the remaining bitcoin Approximately {$9000.00} as collateral for a {$4000.00} loan. I was told my only option to clear this up was to sell my XXXX and have it transferred to my bank account. The problem is, since XXXX won't allow me to pay off my loan with cash, unless they sell enough of the collateral coin to pay the loan and interest off, I can not remove my remaining funds from my XXXX XXXX. The " review '' of which of the XXXX options XXXX will allow has taken nearly an entire month. While XXXX dithers with a simple decision I'm watching the value of my holdings diminish and there is nothing I can to to expedite the process any further. I would appreciate your assistance in helping with this situation.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 75087
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-06-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-31
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My Coinbase account has been restricted and I can not neither solve the issue, nor get in contact with Coinbase support
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-05-31
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-31
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Problem making or receiving payments
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX at about XXXX I sold my XXXX so I could cash it out. The same day at about XXXX an unauthorized transaction of XXXX occurred. This was on my COINBASE account with debit card. At first I didnt know where the money went as the transactions list was not showing any transactions of this amount or any that I didnt not recognize. When I went to the assets page of the app and looked into my US dollars assets and saw a transaction and it showed the amount date, time, and that it was a COINBASE card transaction, but no merchant name. I immediately called the bank. Since the it showed that it was a card transaction I selected to talk to the COINBASE card team. They informed me that since the transaction doesnt show on the card side of transactions I need to call the account specialist. I was told to hang up and call the same number but then to select for the account specialist. I called the account specialist and they told me it was a COINBASE card issue since it showed a card transaction on their end and the call back and talk to the card team. So reluctantly the I called again and spoke with the card team but they tried to pass me off again to the specialist. I said no this is a problem and I need help. I explained all the run around I was getting and they told me they couldnt help me as they cant see the transaction so I called the specialist again and refused to get off the phone until they helped me. They submitted a dispute and told me to wait for an email. A day later I got an email saying they were working on the issue. But needed more information and they needed the date of transaction, amount and merchant. I told them I dont know who the merchant is because its not showing and that I have already explained all this information. I waited another day and asked for sn update and basically got the same email again asking me for the same information. I called and asked for help and tried to passed me back and forth with the specialist and card teams until I got mad and they submitted another escalated dispute request and told me to wait for email. On Friday XX/XX/XXXX I called to find out any updates they told me to wait for email, I asked to speak to a supervisor they told me they are not allowed to transfer me to a supervisor and to just wait patiently. I refused to get off phone and they eventually hung up on me unwilling or unable to help Im not sure. I kept calling and demanding help only to be continually told to wait for email. At the end of the day I finally got ahold of a person who was able to find out that the amount was taken because of a transaction from XX/XX/XXXX that finally reconciled. I told them that I do not recognize this transaction and that I keep trans of all transactions through quicken. The lady in the phone asked me to email her proof by sending screen shots of my quicken data on this account on and near the date of this alleged transaction. She confirmed she got the evidence and told me she would file a complaint and dispute over transaction as i was claiming it was fraud and to wait for email. I got an email saying they were working on my complaint. A few days later I responded to the email asking for update and never got any helpful responses then no responses. I called again on Friday XXXX XXXX for update ( card team ) and they had to submit a dispute again. They had also tried to make me called specialists again but I refused because I told them that is is clearly a card issue because the email identified the transaction ( alleged ). I received an email from support on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX with the statement telling me they explained what happened to me already and they considered the matter closed and it gave no mention of my claim in the fraud claim. I called immediately ( card team ) and they told me that it was passed the 100 day window to dispute and I needed to contact the merchant. I told the the merchant will not take me serious on a issue that supposedly happened a year ago and after some long period of arguing they told me they would submit a dispute and wait for email. I called later that afternoon ( specialist ) and just went off on how nobody cares that this is fraud and nobody wants to help or take me seriously and all I want is my XXXX back so I can close my account and be done with them. They supposedly filed another escalated dispute and told me to wait for email. I just want my money back
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 797XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-05-31
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-30
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I have made several bitcoin purchases and when you do the transaction sits in a pending state until the recipient accepts the funds. When the transaction is in pending, there as an information button to show why the transaction is pending. It says that a pending transaction can be canceled by going to the website on a computer not mobile phone and gives the steps to cancel the transaction however, the steps are inaccurate and there is no actual way to cancel a pending transaction on the website. I called to complain today XX/XX/XXXX about a bitcoin transfer I made to a recipient in the amount of {$96.00}. They said that even though my screen shows the transaction as pending, it can not be canceled even though their instruction say it is possible to do so. This issue also happened on XX/XX/23 in the amount of {$140.00}, {$47.00} on XX/XX/23 and {$96.00} on XX/XX/23. While I was on the phone for 40 minutes for them to resolve this I was hung up on. I attached pics of the transactions listed and particularly the one that says pending 1 hour and the instruction to cancel. I was called back by the customer service rep who said the transaction had been completed but it's because i was on the phone with them for 40 minutes and on top of it the instructions to cancel the transaction are false as you can not cancel a pending transaction even though the app says you can.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 91106
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-05-30
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-27
Issue: Money was not available when promised
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I deposited {$7000.00} dollars into my Coinbase account in 2 installments. One worth {$1000.00}, and the other worth {$6000.00}. I was prompted that the initial {$1000.00} would take 3 days or I could verify my ID again to gain access to the funds instantly. I had issues verifying my ID due to a legal name change but I contacted customer support and was able to resolve that issue by changing the legal name on my Coinbase account to my updated legal name. Once they did that I was able to verify my ID. I never got an email saying my ID was verified and my account had yet to show that the {$1000.00} was sent to my metamask, so I attempted to verify my ID again using the same ID and a VERY similar selfie that I submitted the first time. This attempt at verifying my ID failed and it placed my account under restriction. I saw that my {$1000.00} was sent to my metamask after that, so I opened another ticket to have Coinbase support remove the restriction placed on my account because it was placed in error. However, customer support has been unable to do so and has sent me 3 different emails saying my account is under review and the rest of my funds will be unlocked on 3 different dates. First in XXXX, then XXXX, and then XXXX. It seems as if these dates are being picked at random. I've been told that this is for my safety, but nothing causes more concern that not knowing when, or if I'll ever get my money back. I feel as if I've been scammed. I've used this platform many times and have deposited and withdrawn money. I don't know why this time would be any different. Especially if a {$1000.00} transaction was approved literally a day before. As of today the restrictions have been removed from my account so I'm free to buy, sell, trade, and withdraw funds according to Coinbase, but they still have the EXTREMELY unreasonable hold on my funds. ACH transfers usually take 72 hours to be processed, but the current hold on my deposit is 138 days. It absolutely makes no sense. Please help me get my money back from Coinbase. There has been no security breach and I am the only one with access to my account. I can provide any documents to assure that nothing fraudulent is occurring on my end. I'm very disheartened by this. I want to get my money off the Coinbase exchange and warn others to stay away from their shady business practices. The email associated with my Coinbase account is XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 75089
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-05-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-26
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I met a girl online and we started chatting using XXXX. During conversation the topic of investment had come up. Since I have been interested in investments for some time I told her I was interested. She had me download the Coinbase and Coinbase Wallet apps. I directly wired the following amounts to Coinbase on the following dates from my bank account at XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX - {$500.00}, XXXX - {$2000.00}, XX/XX/ - {$2500.00}, XXXX - {$75000.00}, XX/XX/ - {$15000.00}. I also had a little bit of money on my XXXX app that I transferred over to Coinbase on the following date for this amount : XXXX XXXX {$490.00}. At the beginning on XX/XX/ when I had little money to invest, XXXX helped show me how and I made a little money. I insisted to make a withdraw of funds to prove it was legit and I transferred {$8.00} from Coinbase to XXXX after moving the money from the XXXX XXXX back to the Coinbase app. XXXX helped with all of this. Once all the other money was in there, I made a little more money, but according to XXXX, I was out of time unless I got to {$150000.00} in capital. She took it upon herself to lend me the funds to get to the {$150000.00}. She transferred straight to the XXXX XXXX account the amount of {$44000.00}. After this, I made transactions on the following dates : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. My account balance on XXXX XXXX now stands at {$380000.00}. It shows that I have profited {$240000.00} in total revenue. On Wednesday, XX/XX/, I was instructed by XXXX to ask Customer Service on website what I would owe in taxes. Customer Service gave me the amount of {$49000.00} that I would need to deposit to the Coinbase XXXX as a Pre-tax payment in order to withdraw my money and that I only have 7 business to do so, now that I have asked for my fund, even though I really didnt. Customer Service has insisted that this process can not be reversed. I have talked with a contact at XXXXXXXX XXXX here in XXXX, KS and he used his resources to do some fact checking and it is definitely a scam. Would love to hear from someone soon. Thanks. I also have the entire conversation dialogue with XXXX XXXX on XXXX she used snapshots when teaching me how to do all these transactions between Coinbase and Coinbase Wallet apps.
Company Response:
State: KS
Zip: 670XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-06-29
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-25
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Commencing on or about XX/XX/XXXX, I fell victim to two multi-layered scam operations run by an entity presenting themselves as an employee from Coinbase named XXXX, which resulted in money being stolen from me for a total amount of XXXX USD from my Coinbase account to fraudulent entities. I have made numerous attempts to resolve the issue with Coinbase ( most notably, # XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and # XXXX ). Unfortunately, they said too bad even though the money went to another Coinbase account, they can not go into it. Their only suggestion was to file an FBI complaint. I filed twice and did not hear back from them. I also have my Congressperson pursuing the FBI and the FBI answer her saying can take 3-6 months. Then I had a British asset recovery company work on it and they found where two of the cryptos went. That information should give you a good head start. Coinbase again refused to check out the thieves Coinbase account. Transaction I.D . ( Hash ) [ XXXX ], occurred on XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX where the following address : XXXX sent XXXX BTC to multiple ( XXXX ) beneficiary addresses. One of these beneficiary addresses is : XXXX which received XXXX BTC Clustering techniques show that this receiving address is clustered with a wallet that is controlled by or under the ownership of Coinbase.com, therefore Coinbase must have internal KYC, ( Know your customer ) data and can establish from their internal records who or what entity holds the Coinbase account that had use of that address at that time. The second address ( ADA address ) is not complete in this picture, so I can not search for it using XXXX block explorer. ADA is not currently supported by XXXX XXXX so I am unable to comment further on this at this time. The third address [ XXXX ], is an Ethereum address. LINK is an XXXX token which is an extension of the XXXX protocol. This means that although it is a decentralized oracle token, it sits on the Ethereum Network where the transactions can be viewed. The XXXX LINK was moved to the above address at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The above transaction shows the interaction between the sending Coinbase address being, [ XXXX ] to the LINK Smart contract where ultimately it is sent to the following beneficiary address [ XXXX ] This address interacts with the Chainlink protocol. ( A smart contract interaction so is more than likely an automatic transaction when using LINK ), and then sends all the LINK tokens back to the exact same address of [ XXXX ]. This occurs 4 minutes after the initial movement of funds at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. This beneficiary address can be shown to belong to or is under the control of Coinbase.com, seen as Coinbase 4 on XXXX, therefore, once again Coinbase must have internal KYC, ( Know your customer ) data and can establish from their internal records who or what entity holds the Coinbase account that had use of that address at that time. It is therefore possible to determine who had control of the BTC and LINK wallet that effectively stole these funds. A legal request to Coinbase.com using the relevant legislation instructed by a Lawyer on the two transactions outlined above should enable Coinbase to provide such data once they have interrogated their internal systems. It is a robust assumption to make that the same entity/person is also responsible for the theft of the ADA as all three currencies were stolen at the same time.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 930XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-05-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-05-26
Issue: Money was not available when promised
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Attached please find the dates and the address of my wallet account. In addition to the wire transfer 's I made to this fraudulent company. I am writing this letter to ask you to help me to release the funds that are in Coinbse. This Coinbase company is not the regular Coinbase, they state that they are a " decentralized financial liquidity mining project under Coinbase ''. They have not given me a contact number, I have not spoke to anyone, I only speak through them via chat through the following link : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX & XXXX I also do not know their address, they say they are in XXXX XXXX and they do not have headquarters. On XX/XX/2022 I opened an account with Coinbase and used Coinbase Wallet. Someone on XXXX was chatting with me and introduced me to this company which I dont know their address and cant speak to anyone. I only believed this person as I was just recovering from XXXX XXXX XXXX. I started my investment by {$15000.00} and I increased my investment to {$300000.00} after I earned a good profit from my initial investment. By XX/XX/2022, I earned {$110000.00} profit. On XX/XX/2022, I wanted to withdraw the principal and profit I made, however, Coinbase asked for capital verification by asking me to transfer {$320000.00} to Coinbase before Coinbase release my principal and profit. Therefore, for purpose of capital verification I transferred the said fund from my personal account ( ending XXXX ) whereas I was using my fathers account ( ending XXXX ) prior to this transaction to transfer fund to Coinbase to make my investment. However, this cause a problem for my for purpose of capital verification because the fund for this purpose had to be transferred for the same account that I was transferring the money for investment. This required me to transfer additional {$270000.00} from my fathers account after I had already transferred {$320000.00} from my own account for the purpose of capital verification. Unfortunately, by the time Coinbase tried to send my money back ( i.e my principial and profit ), my father removed my name from his account and Coinbase could not transfer the fund since my name was not on my fathers account which Coinbase wanted to transfer the funds to. To resolve this issue, I opened another bank account under my own name. In order for Coinbase to transfer my funds to this account, Coinbase again asked me to provide another capital verification for the amount of {$75000.00} which I did. Unfortunately, when Coinbase allegedly transferred the fund to my account, the bank returned the fund because the source of fund was not clear and the amount of fund was being wired was more than the income I declared as my income to the bank. I provided my documents that showed I borrowed the money against my condominium for purpose of capital verification which that resolved the issue of how I was able to accumulate such amount for purpose of verification. Then, for the first time, Coinbase staff told me that my account is subject to XXXX XXXX tax withholding and asked me to transfer additional {$260000.00} for tax liability on the profit I made before Coinbase can release my total fund ( i.e {>= $1,000,000} ). They requested {$100000.00} to be send to them in order to get the money back. I did not send them the money as I do not trust them and I am short of money as i keep having to pay for the loan on a monthly basis. Moreover, assuming that the total fund ( i.e {>= $1,000,000} ) was returned to the Coinbase after receiving bank rejected the fund because of above issues and as of now Coinbase has the custody of the fund, Coinbase can deduct the amount I is liable for the taxes from my total earning subject to tax and release the remaining balance of my earning to myself. This is exactly what 26 U.S. Code 1441 ( C ) ( 5 ) requires. See, 26 U.S. Code 1441 ( C ) ( 5 ) In the case of gains described in section 631 ( b ) or ( c ), and gains subject to tax under section 871 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( D ), the amount required to be deducted and withheld shall, if the amount of such gain is not known to the withholding agent, be such amount, not exceeding 30 percent of the amount payable, as may be necessary to assure that the tax deducted and withheld shall not be less than 30 percent of such gain. ( Bold added ) Please also note that the code expressly stated that the amount of tax withholding shall be deducted from gross amount of gains subject to tax under section 871 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( D ). This means that 1 ) Coinbase can not ask for additional fund for purpose of tax withholding and 2 ) the amount of my tax withholding shall be calculated based on my total gains subject to tax under section 871 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( D ) and not total amount that is being withheld by Coinbase. As of now, {>= $1,000,000} is being held by Coinbase in my account. They first asked me to transfer additional {$260000.00} ( 20 % of {>= $1,000,000} ) for purpose of tax withholding. I messaged them them that I dont have the money, and after a few days they said that they spoke to the Federal Finance department they said I need to send them {$99000.00} for the funds to be released and thereafter they will send me the money back and I can pay taxes with that money. Coinbase states that they talk to the Federal Treasury yet I do not believe this. They state the Federal Treasury has my money and that they entrust Coinbase so for that reason I need to send Coinbase the money and they will release my funds. Yet, I dont believe this. Now the customer services does not even chat with me and they have closed the account. They have stole all of the money i wire transferred to them.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 900XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-06-28
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A