Date Received: 2022-03-02
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XXXX XXXX I opened an Coinbase account and wallet and put over 87000 dollars from my XXXX XXXX checking account. I kept having problems with my account seems like every week I had to call Coinbase and address problems.On Friday XXXX i received a text from Coinbase that my password had been changed. I had not touch my account. I changed my password then.Every week I had problems with my account. Then on XXXX I got a text from Coinbase Fraud that someone was trying to buy 3000 in bitcoin. Then I got a phone call after phone call from this NJ # and I answered it and the person said they were from Coinbase Fraud and someone was trying to buy Bitcoin in my account. They said we are going to send you a code and you tell me what the code is. Then they repeated that. They said they would take care of the problem and that it would take 48 hours to clear up. and they hung up. This was at XXXX pm and noticed the person did not say thank you for being Coinbase customer. So I called coinbase and 47 minutes later the CS rep. said my account was compromised and she would expledite up and lock the account. One day later XXXX at approximately 615 pm i got texts from Coinbase saying I was sending out all these transactions 117 to be exact. I got a text from Coinbase saying these transactions would be delayed because of security issues. They let someone drain my entire account on that day. I filed a complaint on XX/XX/XXXX and I still have not received a answer from them and they keep telling me that are not responsible for hacking of my phone and emails. I called them to lock my account and they did not do it. Negligence. They have no headquarters address and all there CS rep. are not trained in cryptocurrency. They have no accountablility because they all work from home. I had one of the CS rep. ask me how much I had in my account and when I told her she said could confirm that. They have internal theft inside their company and do not even realize it. How do they operate without a fraud insurance policy. They made several Billion dollars last quarter. Now I know why? I am XXXX XXXX and that was 30 % of my retirement and they should held accountable. I have filed a police report at the XXXX Police Department and Detective XXXX XXXX has the copies of deposit to Coinbase and copies of the texts from Coinbase. I can not copy them and can not send them electronicall. Please inform Thank you for your time email XXXX Coinbase still is giving me the run around and case # XXXX and XXXX
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 01830
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-03-02
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-28
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I opened an account with Coinbase and bought Bitcoin on XX/XX/XXXX. I did not do much with my account until XX/XX/XXXX, when I sold some of my holdings. Then, in XXXX, I tried to buy some more. But, after repeated efforts on my part and vague unsatisfactory responses from Coinbase, I was notified that, 'due to security reasons ' my transactions were blocked and could not be unblocked. No further reason was given. Now, in XX/XX/XXXX, Coinbase sent me an updated agreement. I can not advance in the website without signing the Agreement. I still have some holdings with them. I am not sure if I can sell these. I hope you can help me with this problem. Thank you.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 77450
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-28
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-28
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Hello, My phone with XXXX stopped working on the XXXX and went into store to get the phone fixed on Tuesday the XXXX. I had a bill of XXXX on my account and this caused my phone to stop. They said since I exchanged my phone the day of the purchase my special plan changed from XXXX to XXXX. I worked on getting the phone fixed on Tuesday the XXXX without paying anything. Phone got fixed then two hours later my phone went bad again. Went back on Wed and they refused to fix my phone. Another bill was placed on my account. My wife, on the XXXX, ended up going to store where we purchased the phone and paid the XXXX and phone got fixed, this was due to my pin and security pin were wrong so only way to get phone up was to pay the bill. After getting my phone fixed another bill for XXXX was placed on my account and my phone was disconnected again. I have the bill attached below. While my phone was off someone got a passcode reset codes and used my XXXX on my phone and hacked into my XXXX email address and also got codes to my XXXX gmail account. They also got into my coinbase account and while in my account they pulled ACH Deposits from my checking account into my coinbase. With the money in my account and the money pulled from ACH they bought bitcoin and in XXXX days they took all my money in my account. Total loss of {$24000.00}. I need help getting my money back. Sincerely, XXXX
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 60645
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-28
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-27
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I've been a Coinbase Customer for approx XXXX mo. Coinbase never had live support. You could use their auto response system but that was worthless. I was told by a friend they were now doing support on XXXX. I stated to him that's a bad move because it opens Coinbase and customers to be hacked. But oh well it's their company and they will eventually have to pay out a lot of money. 2 maybe 3 times there has been a link on the Coinbase platform for a XXXX sweepstakes. Of course, I'm going to enter. The last time I never received an email for completing the required task of buying or selling {$100.00} worth of crypto. In the meantime, I had downloaded the new Coinbase XXXX and the desk top extension. On XXXX XX/XX/2022, I went to their support on XXXX, to which I was a rank novice at using. I never really wanted to use social media, especially for support. I asked 2 questions. Why haven't I received my email for the sweepstakes and why is my Coinbase platform pricing over {$100.00} off from XXXX and Coinbase XXXX. The " support '' person made sure I received the confirmation email and then told me I would need to move my crypto to the Coinbase wallet so my basic platform could be " reset '' it wasn't functioning properly. I did as instructed. On XXXX XX/XX/2022, the same " support '' person told me the crypto bot nodes were all locked up and I was required to make a deposit of XXXX XXXX to get the nodes to unlock. After all was said and done, they stole {$3000.00} in crypto from my wallet. Attached a XXXX system and apparently intercepted the confirmation email, because I never authorized it. XXXX days later, my system found XXXX attached to the Coinbase XXXX. The hacker, who in my opinion, works for Coinbase. After reading all of the complaints against Coinbase on the XXXX site I'm more convinced it's an inside job. The hacker gained access to my basic platform and tried to purchase XXXX. {$9200.00} worth to be exact. I notified my XXXX and Coinbase. I had to change ALL of my banking info, all of my passwords and reported this to every agency I could. Coinbase never locked my account after so many failed attempts, they never contacted me to verify it was me. My XXXX never contacted me as they knew I'm a crypto fan. My XXXX refunded me {$460.00} in NSF charges as I was able to provide documentation. In the meantime, Coinbase locked up my account, they refused to help me. They told me I was responsible for what the hack tried to purchase. I told them I don't have {$9200.00} just laying around. I was threatened with liquidation to pay for what the hack did. I was forced to let them. I had almost $ XXXX XXXX locked up for interest rewards. And had a little over $ XXXX available that I hadn't staked yet. Coinbase took it all on XXXX XX/XX/2022. I was still short {$180.00}. Coinbase blocked me at every attempt to make the payment. I called them AGAIN and this time I told them what they were doing is actionable in a court of law and I would win, because I was trying to make the payment and Coinbase was refusing to allow me to do so. The next morning, I tried one last time and they must have listened as I was able to make the payment. But yet, my XXXX was never deposited to my account. I have called so many times, I have asked to speak with a manager, I have been given the run around, transferred from one support person to the other for hours and then eventually hung up on. I was told since the {$9200.00} I paid for was the result of a hack, I was not entitled to receive it. Yes, you read that right. I was forced to pay for what the hack attempted to purchase, but not allowed to have it. That is wrong on so many levels. Unjust enrichment on Coinbase 's part. Coinbase support admitted to me the sweepstakes was a hack to get personal info from those that entered. But yet they never removed it from the platform, nor did they warn customers. Their only excuse for the XXXX issues is it's the customers responsibility to know a hacker from the verified users. So, a brand-new user is to know everything. Emailing Coinbase was a bust as well. After XXXX emails they would close the case and refuse to reopen it. So, I would have to start over. I made a {$100.00} purchase of XXXX XXXX to test my account. It was over 3 weeks before Coinbase would let me have access to it. Now I have to wait 8 days before I can have access to my XXXX. In my opinion, Coinbase needs to be shut down and have a full-on financial audit. They need to make their customers whole, with interest. Coinbase has been unjustly enriched at the sake of their " minnow '' customers. They make sure to take care of the whales but leave the minnows behind. I have filed complaints with the FBI, FTC, US and KS AG as well as several other places. I think the SEC should take a real hard look at Coinbase as a whole, since they are listed on the XXXX. I'm hoping you can help move this along. I just want to get my crypto and move it to my XXXX wallet, which I have since purchased. In the meantime, I'm slowly trying to purchase the other XXXX the hack got out of my wallet. Coinbase is touting itself as the most secure crypto platform there is, and it is not. In my opinion that's false advertisement.
Company Response:
State: KS
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-26
Issue: Problem with customer service
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Coinbase has locked me out of my account, with zero communication or explanation, while having over {$10000.00} in assets in the account. I find this to be unprofessional and honestly illegal given I've attempted to contact them with zero communication back. I work in the compliance field and deal with these cases all the time, the least they can do is communicate - however it seems like they decide to randomly lock users out based on a quick XXXX search. I am exhausting all resources and energy to try get my funds out as this is ridiculous. They make an insane fee on every trade and seems like day-light robbery to just lock customers out without any explanation. It's important to note that I am fully XXXX with source of income and reside in XXXX. I would grealtly appreciate your assistance as it seems like you assisted people online. I also have a fully strong generated password with 2FA and email confirmation login - whatever reason they decide to give is honestly going to be full of XXXX
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-26
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX, I have an account with coinbase that is frozen from XX/XX/2021, what happen was that due a XXXX I had to fly to XXXX to see my mother that was sick, at the entry I was put inXX/XX/XXXXdue to XXXX security issues. And I wasn't able to keep my personal item including my phone without any explanation from the authorities in XXXX. Someone unknown had access yo my item including my phone and tried to open some of my personal account and coinbase was one of the affected account, After a couple days I recovered my personal item And phone and I saw an email from coinbase telling that my account was restricted, as soon I read the email I get back to home country ( USA ) to resolve the issue, by that day I was permanently of the United state, and at this moment I'm a united states citizen, at the first time they asked to provide information and documentation to proof my identity, I sent them all information, they wrote me back a couple months later by email telling me that they received the information and the investigation was ungoin, has been 11 months and nothing yet from them... I provide them everything that they asked me but today is XX/XX/XXXX, 11 months waiting for a resolution and not answers yet from coinbase..im asking them to take step in this issue and provide me with a resolution as soon as possible..thank you
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 34953
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-26
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Coinbase shows that the transaction was completed at coinbase side, but i did not receive it in my wallet which is also a coinbase wallet. Conbase has been giving me a run around, provides for phone numbers that does not work [ which by the way is on their website ] and refuses to locate my funds disappeared by coinbase. This is supposed to be a nasdaq publicly traded company.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95070
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-25
Issue: Unexpected or other fees
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Coinbase allows for debit and bank transfers. They have practices in place that steer you towards using your debit card to make deposits which carry a much larger fee. If you make deposits with your bank account they will hold your money for 7 days restricting you from making trades with these deposits. On the day you make the deposit the money will be debited from your account. What this practice does is deters you from using this method and using debit card deposits which are immediately available for trades. I have complained on many occasions and their response is they do this for security purposes. When you respond and ask what security measures they say they cant reveal these for confidentiality reasons.
Company Response:
State: CT
Zip: 064XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-03-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-25
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: XX/XX/2022 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Or, XXXX ( XXXX ) - XXXX To whom it may concern, This is to complain against the Coinbase. Company Name : Coinbase, To whom it may concern, My name is XXXX XXXX I have been a customers of Coinbase for about a year and I have been using your services and learning as I go things where going well. I have made several transactions in Buy/Sell of Currencies like, Bitcoin, but sill just learning. ( Coinbase ). URGENCY : HIGH IMPORTANCE : HIGH [ WITHOUT PREJUDICE ] I wish to practice my right as a customer of Coinbase to use your organization 's service, seeking a formal, impartial investigation to amicably settle my dispute with Coinbase. In order to clear up or state my case respecting my complaint, I believe it will substantially strengthen both my case and your understanding, by taking a deeper look at the happenings of my case, and analyzing the relevant facts in an objective and comprehensive fashion. It is, crucial to note that I have been manipulated, socially-engineered and coerced to engage these fraudulent criminals. Much to my embarrassment, I recognize that I am the victim of an investment scam. My complaint to the CFPB has arisen as I do not consider, by any stretch of the imagination, the conduct of Coinbase to be commensurate with their legal role and responsibility to their customers. They sell a service to look after their customers, protect their money and are a financial institution that maintains a traditional relationship and way of working with its customers. During the complaints process with Coinbase, I found their communication ineffective, which further hides their conduct to management and diminishes the service offering to their clients. They are struggling to adapt their business offering in the ever-changing world of IT development. The internet is presenting a real problem which they choose to manage in a way which is not in line with rules and regulations of CFPB as well as their own internal policy and procedures sold to their clients. XXXX and I have suffered from a what I think a huge financial loss. I transferred thirteen times totaling $ XXXX from my XXXX XXXX XXXX banks/checking Account and XXXX XXXX XXXX debit card and XXXX XXXX XXXX debit card into Coinbase. From Coinbase to the fraudulent copycat/ duplicates investment company. Called http : //falconprofx.com. Later, I learned that this was a scam. I fell for the scam because I thought that it was a legitimate business I used Coinbase because is a very trustworthy company because of its great reputation. Therefore, I trusted Coinbase and gave in with my hard earned money. I transferred all that money into a fraudulent platform ; Unexpectedly ( from the present perspective ), Coinbase gave no warning not only that this is a flagged-for-fraud wallet, but also a verified one. That means that Coinbase has an untrustworthy verification system, therefore betraying our trust. In a second, all my hard earned savings were sent into a fraudulent platform, permanently losing it ( unless you help! ). Obligation : Commencing on XXXX, I fell victim to a copycats or duplicate investing platform scam operations run by http : //falconprofx.com which involved me making deposits to a supposedly a mining pool for a total amount of XXXX USD and approx. XXXX you can see on my receipts from my Coinbase account to these fraudulent copycat/ duplicates investment company. When determining whats reasonable and fair, we should focus on the issue of liability and security ; Common queries include, but are not limited to, the following ( i ) whether Coinbase did not take notice of any rule, law, or regulation, and/or possibly missed any material elements of the relevant bylaws or codes of conduct, that may have prevented them from protecting my financial safety ; ( ii ) whether by virtue of Coinbases custodianship over my funds or by its control over them, they owed a fiduciary duty to the me and if so, whether that duty was breached ; ( iii ) whether Coinbase promoted the transaction ( XXXX ) in question despite being aware of the nature of the transaction ( XXXX ) in question ( iv ) whether Coinbase was in compliance with its own policies and procedures ; ( v ) whether Coinbase owed duties to myself, what the scope of those duties was, and whether Coinbase did not uphold those duties ; ( vi ) whether Coinbases conduct was unfair ; and ( vii ) whether Coinbase has within its power the ability to, and should, compensate me for the harm that has befallen me. Upon identification of such unusual or suspicious activity, it is crucial that the relevant staff member adequately describe the factors making an activity or transaction suspicious, thoroughly depict the extent and nature of this activity and properly communicate to the customer that such activity meets the relevant criteria of fraud. In providing its services to a customer, a financial institution is required by law to exercise the care and skill of a diligent, prudent organization. In this case, this means that the payment service provider should not turn a Blind eye to known facts pointing to a real possibility that their customer is being scammed. In other words, Coinbase must have had special knowledge of what was occurring or been alerted to a real possibility of fraud taking place. The financial institution must have known or reasonably ought to have known that I was dealing with a scammer. Granted, there is room for diversity of view insofar as reasonableness is concerned. Indeed, there is a sense in which the standard of care of the reasonable person involves in its application a subjective element. However, it must be remembered that the correct test is always reasonable care in all circumstances, not average care. The fact that most people behave in a certain way may be good evidence that the conduct is reasonable, but this is not necessarily the case. Although reasonableness is a very fluid concept, all of the evidence suggests that Coinbase did not foresee the fraud and disregarded even the most obvious dangers in this respect. Situations do tend to repeat themselves and it is advisable to examine previous outcomes to see how the standard of the reasonable person should be applied, and that lessons can be learnt from the errors of the past. Coinbases Position : On XXXX, I have sent thirteen transactions for a total of XXXX USD from my account/debit I believe I deserve XXXX USD as a compensation. Refuting Coinbases arguments from a purely logical perspective : I do not consider it as reasonable and sufficient enough. You have to understand that as a result of this scam I lost all of my savings in the total amount of XXXX USD mind you this is after all your fees and approx. XXXX BTC you can see on my receipts. This is a huge part of my life and I need Coinbase to give me a better compensation. Coinbases position is the ( features ) of the situation at hand do not generate a genuine obligation to protect innocent and helpless victims ; they are essentially arguing that common-sense-based approaches are doomed to fail, leaving their exclusively technical account of the subject matter as the only meaningful choice. For reasons which are unclear, this extremely serious situation barely gets the attention it deserves even though ample evidence has been offered in support of this complaint. In Coinbases view, it is implied that we should not home in ( and consequently rely ) on unwritten laws, practicality, good judgement, reasonableness, sharpness, sensibleness, past outcomes, and insight, when taking appropriate precautions. To underscore, once again, such views are at odds with common sense and are wildly irresponsible. Imagine a view according to which the one and only thing that can make Coinbase morally obligated to do something is having it written down somewhere. Pursuant to this view, if Coinbase encounter the suffering of totally naive victims, they are only obligated to intervene in or remedy the situation, to the degree required by written material. This is unbecoming for a reputable establishment such as Coinbase. I have reviewed the material hereto sent by Coinbase carefully, and it unfortunately they provides a simple response of this transactions are in reversible there is nothing we can do response to my fundamental argument concerning the degree of care. Given its size, influence, and the resources at its disposal, this establishment clearly had a far greater capacity than an individual such as myself had, to determine the level and likelihood of risk that a client such as myself is subjected to and had a duty to intervene as they now do to query in particular out-of-pattern transactions of this kind. It is perfectly obvious that Coinbase, inadvertently, employs a subtle approach in addressing some of the key questions in a manner which neither provides me with adequate support nor protects anything other than its own interests. It is Coinbase here, who has the burden of proof, to show that it has exercised the duty of care, that is to say, that Coinbase adhered to a standard of reasonable care in relation to the matter at issue given its extensive experience compared to mine. It is Coinbase that claims that the damages which I have suffered in connection to this matter have not been reasonably foreseeable, and that my proposed degree of care is not, and has not been, commensurate with Coinbases capacity, experience, expertise, or scope of services in any way. To reemphasize, Coinbases indisputable overriding purpose is by no means to purely execute transactions in a careless ad reckless fashion, but rather to strike a balance between executing those transactions and capitalizing on its undeniably vast capabilities to protect consumers thereby enhancing market integrity. Coinbase is obliged to take some action if it is sufficiently aware of a real possibility that a fraud may be being perpetuated. If they don't question its customers instructions or raise the possibility of a scam with the customer in these circumstances, it may be liable if the red flags indicate the customer is : particularly vulnerable, or if the possibility of fraud was serious or real, not just suspected. There are some recommendations to organizations for protecting customers from financial harm that might occur as a result of fraud or financial abuse ; and gives guidance on how to recognize customers who might be at risk, how to assess the potential risks to the individual and how to take the necessary actions to prevent or minimize financial harm. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Transaction on Coinbase # 13 transactions XXXX $ BTC XXXX
Company Response:
State: OR
Zip: 977XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-02-25
Issue: Unexpected or other fees
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I have a Coinbase account to purchase crypto currency. Coinbase has a tab called Learn and Earn that you use to receive money from crypto currencies to promote their currency. Coinbase added a promotion to advertise their Coinbase wallet. After going through the process of learning about what it was and setting it up I sent {$100.00} of my position in XXXX to it to see how it worked and if it was something I'd like to do. Upon sending the transfer I looked into the transaction and I was charged {$10.00} for that transaction without notification. Once the funds were in the wallet I looked into purchasing other crypto with it and it told me I would have a fee of around {$40.00} in XXXX to be able to do that transaction. I thought that was ridiculous and no longer wanted to participate in something that had such ridiculous fees so I tried to send the money back to my account at Coinbase, the same fee applied. Not only was the fee ridiculous but I was required to pay that fee in XXXX ( XXXX ) coins, which means I would have to spend that {$40.00} transaction fee to purchase {$40.00} in XXXX so I could pay another {$40.00} to move my money back to the account I was just in. You see how absurd this is. I have since found out I can lower fees by timing when I do it but lowest fees I have seen are {$25.00} or so. None of these enormous fees were disclosed by Coinbase. I don't expect to get all my money back but Coinbase should be made to disclose how bad these fees are before you are trapped into to just giving away your money.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 90808
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-02-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A