Coinbase Global chief executive officer Brian Armstrong said that a former customer service agent for the largest US crypto exchange was arrested in India, months after hackers bribed customer service representatives to gain access to customer information. In May, the company said hackers bribed contractors or employees outside the US to steal sensitive customer data and demanded a $20 million ransom, in one of the most high-profile security breaches of a crypto trading platform. At the time, San Francisco-based Coinbase estimated the incident could cost up to $400 million (R6.67 billion) to remedy.
A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed the arrest in India and added that the news follows the exchange’s recent work with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, in which the prosecutors filed charges against a Brooklyn man who was accused of running a long-running impersonation scheme targeting Coinbase customers. Shares of Coinbase fell about 1.2% to $236.79 on Friday. The stock is down around 4.6% this year.
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