Last Updated on Friday, 19 December 2025, 12:06 by Denis Chabrol
Ronald Spektor
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that his Virtual Currency Unit indicted a 23-year-old Brooklyn man in connection with a phishing and social engineering scheme that stole nearly $16 million from about 100 users of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The defendant – who used the handle @lolimfeelingevil when bragging online when bragging online – allegedly contacted users purporting to be a Coinbase representative, claimed that their assets are at risk from a hacker and convinced them to transfer their money to a new cryptocurrency wallet. He then allegedly emptied out those accounts and laundered the assets by sending them to online swapping and mixing services as well as cryptocurrency gambling entities.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This indictment charges the defendant of operating a long-running social engineering scam that amounted to a digital robbery against scores of crypto investors across the country. He allegedly tricked many unsuspecting people to transfer their life savings to wallets he controlled, blew their hard-earned money gambling online, and then bragged about his successful thefts. My office is committed to making sure that Brooklyn never becomes a hub for online scams, and we will continue to root out every instance of cryptocurrency fraud, which is a serious problem that’s been exploding throughout the country. We will investigate offenders using the latest technology, freeze their assets whenever possible, and assist the victims.”
Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer for Coinbase, said, “We’re grateful to District Attorney Gonzalez and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for their partnership and relentless work to protect victims. In this case, Coinbase supported the investigation by helping identify the perpetrator and the customers he defrauded, providing evidence to ensure he could be charged, and assisting law enforcement efforts to trace and recover funds connected to the fraudulent phishing scheme. We’re committed to protecting our customers and working hand-in-hand with law enforcement to hold scammers accountable and help bring justice for those they harm.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Ronald Spektor, 23, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on a 31-count indictment charging him with first-degree grand larceny, first-degree money laundering, scheme to defraud and other related counts. The defendant is being held on bail and will be arraigned today by Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun.
About $105,000 in cash and approximately $400,000 in cryptocurrency were seized from the defendant in the course of the investigation and the DA’s Office is working to access more alleged stolen cryptocurrency assets.
The District Attorney explained that Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange that allows its users to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Coinbase users are popular targets for phishing scams, which are social engineering cyberattacks where a bad actor impersonates a trusted entity, like a bank or a well-known company, to trick customers into revealing sensitive information, such as passwords, account numbers, or other personal details. These scams are typically conducted through deceptive emails, text message, phone calls, or malicious websites that mimic legitimate ones.
For the past year, the DA’s Virtual Currency Unit has been investigating a Coinbase phishing scheme that resulted in approximate loss of $15,944,000 from about 100 U.S.-based users (over 70 of whom were interviewed in the course of the investigation). Victims confirmed that a purported Coinbase representative contacted them and informed them that their assets were at risk from a hacker and needed to be moved to a new wallet. The users, believing they were communicating with a real Coinbase representative, unwittingly moved their crypto assets to a wallet that they were led to believe was under their sole control, but was actually accessible by the defendant.
The investigation further revealed that the stolen assets were then allegedly laundered by swapping them multiple times through different crypto exchanges until they were eventually consolidated at “cash-out points” where they could be converted to other types of cryptocurrencies, wagered in bets, converted to cash, and used to purchase gift cards or digital assets. Large portions of the stolen assets in this case were allegedly sent to gambling services and various online storefronts.
It is alleged that the defendant, who resides with his father in Brooklyn, is responsible for the scheme based on transaction records, blockchain analyses, digital forensic and evidence recovered from multiple search warrants. The defendant’s own home IP address was allegedly linked to multiple wallets that cryptocurrency was stolen from. The investigation also revealed that he allegedly used online forums to recruit others to work for him as social engineers (e.g. perpetuating what might look like a hacking attempt) and to brag about his criminal exploits.
Furthermore, the investigation revealed that Spektor allegedly used the handle @lolimfeelingevil on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, where he ran a channel called “Blockchain enemies” in which he openly bragged about his heists. He also allegedly used the encrypted apps like Discord. Investigators allege that recovered messages show that he wrote, using slang terms, that he lost six million dollars of cryptocurrency by gambling and implied that he has made millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency through scamming.
In addition, text messages recovered from his phone show that after becoming the subject of online allegations of fraud, he allegedly made sure to dispose of a cryptocurrency hardware wallet and have a new one purchased.
Victims’ locations spanned the entire country. A California resident reported losing over $1 million and a Virginia resident reported losing over $900,000. A Pennsylvania man recalled receiving a phone call in September 2024 from an individual purporting to be “Fred Wilson” from Coinbase security. He was informed that there had been a suspicious attempt to move cryptocurrency from his account. Immediately prior to receiving the call, the victim had received multiple spoofed two factor authentication text messages from Coinbase and Google, helping to trick him into believing his username and password had been breached. He lost approximately $53,150 worth of cryptocurrency. A woman from Maryland received calls and emails alerting her that her wallet was compromised and discovered that about $38,750 worth of crypto had been transferred out of a wallet she believed she controlled. She also received an email from someone who identified themselves as “James Wilson,” who claimed to be an employee of Coinbase.
The District Attorney thanked Coinbase and Flashpoint for their assistance in the investigation.
The District Attorney offered the following tips to avoid falling victim to phishing scams:
Coinbase and most other companies will never call customers or ask to transfer crypto to a “safe wallet”
Don’t trust caller ID, sender names or lookalike domains that can be spoofed.
Only contact Coinbase and other companies through in-app support channels.
Slow down. Scammers rely on urgency and pressure. Verify independently, consult with other, don’t move money in a rush.
Use strong account protections, like two factor authentication or security keys where available.
The case was investigated by Assistant District Attorney Alona Katz, Chief of the District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit with the assistance of ADA Kevin Zhen of the Frauds Bureau, Senior Virtual Currency Analyst Sam Weaver, as well as analysts Jayden Kuprel, Chris Vellios, Paul Stenzel, and Paralegal Claire Fagan, of the Virtual Currency Unit. Detective Investigators from the KCDA Detective Bureau and members of the Digital Evidence Lab Unit under the supervision of Chief Jingu Chong also assisted in the investigation.
Discover more from Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.