Brooklyn Man Indicted in $16M Coinbase Phishing Ring

A 23-year-old Brooklyn resident has been indicted on 31 felony counts for allegedly orchestrating a $16 million phishing operation targeting Coinbase users. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the charges against Ronald Spektor on Friday, revealing a sophisticated social engineering scheme that drained accounts of approximately 100 victims across the United States.

The “Support” Vector

Prosecutors allege Spektor, operating under the alias @lolimfeelingevil, impersonated Coinbase customer support agents to deceive victims into transferring funds. The tactic relied on urgency: victims were told their accounts were compromised and instructed to move assets to a “secure” wallet, controlled by Spektor.

According to the indictment, Spektor managed a Telegram channel titled “Blockchain enemies,” where he reportedly boasted about the thefts. The operation, which ran from April 2023 to December 2025, exploited the trust users place in exchange support channels, bypassing technical security layers through psychological manipulation.

This indictment charges the defendant of operating a long-running social engineering scam that amounted to a digital robbery against scores of crypto investors. . Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez

The Money Trail

While the scheme netted an estimated $16 million, investigators have only seized approximately $105,000 in cash and $400,000 in cryptocurrency. Court filings suggest a significant portion of the stolen funds was lost to online gambling. Spektor allegedly admitted in recovered messages to losing $6 million on gambling platforms.

The investigation, conducted by the DA’s Virtual Currency Unit with assistance from on-chain analyst ZachXBT, traced the stolen assets through a complex web of mixers and exchanges. Spektor pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and is being held on $500,000 bail.