Coinbase users knock brand-new customer support phone assistance

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Coinbase users slam new customer service phone support

Revealed: The Secrets our Clients Used to Earn $3 Billion

LOS ANGELES– After countless customer support grievances, Coinbase began a brand-new live phone assistance line. But many consumers stay disappointed with the business after its most current effort to resolve their issues.

Take Erick and Molly Richardson, for instance.

The text on Erick’s phone alarmed him a lot that he pulled over to the side of the roadway. It was a bright afternoon in July.

The retired lawyer clicked the message which stated somebody had actually logged into his account. He went to, and quickly got an e-mail that his two-factor authentication had actually been altered, indicating his security settings had actually most likely been jeopardized.

Then the problem worsened.

He and his better half, Molly, had actually conserved almost $1.1 million in cryptocurrencies. Suddenly, a scammer began withdrawing all their bitcoin financial investments, about $700,000, as Erick enjoyed. And there was absolutely nothing he might do.

“I was panicked. It was that feeling I haven’t had in a long time,” Erick stated, acknowledging the text was likely a phishing attack to get his account details.

Coinbase consumers Erick and Molly Richardson lost about $700,000 in cryptocurrencies when their account was taken control of by a scammer.

Source: CNBC

The Richardsons might not call Coinbase for assistance since when the account takeover occurred in July, the business just provided e-mail assistance. A CNBC examination in August discovered countless consumers’ accounts were hacked and they were left hanging by the business, according to federal government records and interviews. Coinbase, which went public in April, has a market cap of more than $50 billion.

Since 2016, users have actually submitted more than 12,000 grievances versus Coinbase with the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau, mainly associated to customer support, according to public records. An extra 1,500 grievances have actually been submitted because August.

Other cryptocurrency exchanges have actually dealt with comparable grievances, however less many than the grievances for Coinbase, which is the biggest exchange in the U.S.

Coinbase, reacting to criticism that consumers could not speak with anybody at the business, established the live assistance line inAugust However, lots of consumers whose accounts were hacked and drained pipes informed CNBC the so-called assistance didn’t lead to their issue getting dealt with.

In the Richardsons’ case, Erick stated it took just about 20 minutes for the scammers to withdraw 21 Bitcoin in 110 various deals.

Erick reported the theft to Coinbase, which locked the account. But he stated for more than 2 months, nobody connected to assist the couple get their refund or open the account.

“I still have no idea how it happened,” he stated.

In September, the Richardsons called the brand-new Coinbase phone assistance line. The representative informed Erick that he didn’t have access to the case file and recommended he react to the last e-mail from Coinbase, which he had actually currently addressed. The 10- minute call ended not with a resolution, however with more disappointment.

“It was a joke; it just makes me a little more angry. And there’s nobody who has any decision-making power at customer service,” Erick stated. “They just can’t help out a lot. You know what Coinbase did two days after I got hacked? They sent me a customer survey and they asked me to rate their service.”

Coinbase consumers around the nation informed comparable stories to CNBC because the live phone assistance started.

For example, client Marc Boulos stated in an e-mail that “the live support is only for accounts that are actively locked; since my account is no longer locked, I can’t even reach live support even if I try to do so.”

“The system recognizes that the account associated with my phone number is not locked and doesn’t let me reach live support,” Boulos composed.

Another client, Don Pirtle, called the phone line “a joke.”

And after unsuccessfully attempting to bring back access to his account, client Conrad Yiu stated, “It seems like they’ve failed in every single part.”

A Coinbase representative stated in a declaration that the business will provide “global phone support for all customers, and live messaging by end of year. Our goal is to be the most trusted and easy to use platform in the crypto economy, but we recognize the challenges some of our customers have experienced with their Coinbase accounts. Improving our customer experience continues to remain a top priority.”

“In most cases, Coinbase does not cover any losses resulting from unauthorized access to Coinbase accounts due to a breach,” which is frequently a phishing attack, the declaration stated.

Earlier this month, in a note to Coinbase consumers, the business revealed that funds were taken from about 6,000 consumers in a phishing attack that happened from March to May20 The hackers took “advantage of a flaw in Coinbase’s SMS Account Recovery process in order to receive an SMS two-factor authentication token and gain access to your account.”

A business representative stated: “We immediately fixed the flaw and have worked with these customers to regain control of their accounts and reimburse them for the funds they lost. These large-scale, sophisticated phishing attacks are on the rise, and we strongly recommend anyone that uses online financial services to remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to protect their online identity.”

Asked about the security of Coinbase accounts, the representative stated, “While some Coinbase customers unfortunately have fallen victim to phishing attacks and account takeovers, at no point have attackers breached Coinbase’s security infrastructure.”

Experts state there are alternative methods to save cryptocurrency that are basically hack-proof.

A relocation that would have assisted safeguard the Richardsons and others is moving cryptocurrency from an exchange, like Coinbase, to what is called freezer, or moving crypto offline.

“I’ve beaten myself up every day because I have my friends’ voices in my head. ‘Erick, put it on cold storage.’ And I just didn’t,” Erick stated.

Nicole DeCicco, who assists customers protect their cryptocurrency through her business Crypto Consultz, states freezer is essentially hack-proof. Crypto owners get a personal secret, which resembles a password, to save that crucial offline.

“A cold storage or a cold wallet is completely disconnected from the internet. It is sometimes a device that you connect to your computer,” she stated. “When you keep your funds in cold storage, you own those funds. … They’re offline, away from hackers.”

Nicole DeCicco assists customers protect their cryptocurrency through her business Crypto Consultz.

Source: CNBC

“I like to tell my clients that just like you might pull money out with your ATM card, you can always load from your cold storage wallet into a hot wallet. But if we’re talking a significant amount of money, really the best practice is to keep it in cold storage,” she stated.

DeCicco stated establishing exchange accounts is simple however establishing freezer takes more work. To established freezer, numerous financiers purchase a gadget for this function. It then requires to be packed with a personal secret and securely saved, such as in a vault.

While freezer is more safe and secure, it has its own concerns. Owners can lose passwords, or the gadget can break.

The Richardsons, after more e-mail exchanges with Coinbase, stated access to their account was ultimately brought back. And the business did send them some refund.

But it wasn’t what they anticipated. The business put $500 worth of Bitcoin in their account.

“It felt like they kicked sand in my face,” Erick Richardson stated. “Is there even anybody senior at Coinbase looking at this? Somebody make a calculation and said, ‘OK, this is what happened to this guy. He lost 21 bitcoin. Let’s give him $500.”

Please e-mail pointers to investigations@cnbc.com

— CNBC’s Angelica Serrano-Roman and Nadine El-Bawab added to this report.

Correction: Erick and Molly Richardson had actually conserved almost $1.1 million in cryptocurrencies. An earlier variation misstated the figure.