Crypto Users Report New Scam Emails Spoofing Coinbase, Gemini

An increase in scams has been reported by crypto users who impersonate exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini. These fraud emails are aimed at tricking users into setting up a new wallet using pre-generated recovery phrases controlled by scammers.

On X, several examples were posted that claimed to be from Coinbase, which asked users to transition to self-custodial wallets and provided instructions on downloading the legitimate Coinbase Wallet, giving a deadline of April 1 to make the switch.

However, pre-generated recovery phases are also provided. Once, the wallet is opened a new wallet with those phrases and transfer funds, all the assets will be available to the threat actor, who could drain the wallet.

Gemini didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. 

Coinbase told Cointelegraph it is aware of the scam and pointed to its March 14 post to X, saying, “We will never send you a recovery phrase, and you should never enter a recovery phrase given to you by someone else.” 

Interest Soars For Toncoin To 67% As Pavel Durov Departs France

Amidst the reports of Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s departure from France, Toncoin Open Interest (OI) has jumped 67% over the past 24 hours.

He had been required to stay in France since his arrest seven months ago.

According to CoinGlass data, on March 15, Toncoin TON$3.45 OI which is a metric tracking the total number of unsettled Toncoin derivative contracts such as options and futures —  reached $169 million, representing a 67% increase from the previous day when the reports of Durov’s departure first surfaced.

Since Feb 1, t is the highest level of OI in Toncoin, when it was sitting at $171.49 million.

Debiex, crypto platform must pay $2.5M in CFTC ‘pig butchering’ case

Debiex,  a crypto platform has been ordered to pay around $2.5 million after it failed to respond to a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission suit which accused it of being a romance scam ring.

On March 13, Douglas Rayes, arizona federal court Judge granted the CFTC’s earlier motion for summary judgment in its case and ordered Debiex to pay back around $2.26 million it stole from its customers, along with a civil penalty of nearly $221,500.

Judge Rayes said that there was no evidence found that stated Debiex’s failure to respond to the CFTC was the result of “excusable neglect.”

In January 2024, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Debiex, alleging that its employees engaged in a "pig butchering" scam in which they courted clients on social media to win their trust and persuade them to invest in the platform.

According to the CFTC, the scam tricked five victims into depositing a total of about $2.3 million on Debiex, which the alleged trading platform then stole.

Zhāng Chéng Yáng was also charged by the CFTC with being a "money mule" for Debiex, whose cryptocurrency wallets were used to accept and steal victims' money.