Binance and Kraken have reportedly fended off social engineering attacks that recently breached Coinbase.
Sources familiar with the situation say the attackers used advanced tactics, similar to those seen in the Coinbase incident, but failed to compromise the two exchanges.Both Binance and Kraken have not publicly confirmed or denied the attempted breaches.
Binance stops bribery attempts using AI tools
Reports suggest that scammers attempted to bribe Binance’s customer support staff in exchange for customer data. They even provided a Telegram contact to continue the conversation. However, Binance’s automated systems, powered by artificial intelligence, detected the bribery attempts and stopped the conversations. These systems are capable of identifying such threats in multiple languages.
Access to user data at Binance is restricted to certain employees and only during verified customer interactions. This limitation further protected the exchange from any data exposure. In December last year, some competing exchanges noticed a pattern of social engineering targeting Coinbase. At least one of them reportedly warned Coinbase through Telegram several times. Coinbase has not commented on whether it received these alerts.
Coinbase targeted despite reported warnings
Despite being warned, hackers succeeded in breaching Coinbase. They bribed some of its customer service employees and accessed personal information, including names, addresses, birth dates, nationalities, and banking details. The attackers later demanded $20 million from Coinbase in return for deleting the stolen data.
Coinbase said it started observing suspicious activity among staff in January. The stolen data could be used to impersonate the exchange, deceive users, or access other services under stolen identities. Mike Dudas, managing partner at web3 firm 6MV, called the breach severe and warned that such leaks could put users’ personal safety at risk amid rising global tensions.
DOJ charges 12 in global cybercrime scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged 12 people involved in an international cybercrime network that generated over $263 million. They face charges of RICO conspiracy, money laundering, wire fraud conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.
The group was said to have spent the digital assets they stole by buying luxury goods, booking private jets, exotic cars and high-end properties. To launder the money, the criminals used peel chains, mixers and VPNs. Malone Lam is one of the individuals involved, as he is suspected of stealing 4,100 BTC in August this year and $14 million in cryptocurrencies in July. Authorities suspect that Lam and his team were involved in robberies aimed at hardware wallets, for example, a case in New Mexico.