Ronald Spector was arrested in New York on suspicion of defrauding users of $6.5 million by impersonating a Coinbase customer service representative.

New York-based suspect Ronald Spector has finally been arrested by police for allegedly defrauding users of $6.5 million by impersonating a Coinbase customer service representative, reports have surfaced.

At the time, Zack published a detailed thread linking Spector to a $6.5 million theft from a single victim in October 2024. The scam involved impersonation, where the scammer pretended to be a Coinbase supporter and forced the victim to use a phishing site, resulting in the victim’s account being compromised.

What role did ZachXBT play in the arrest?

The renowned cryptocurrency sleuth played a major role in the investigation after Zack received a petition in November 2024 from a desperate victim who lost his life savings in a Coinbase customer care scam.

We are pleased to announce that blackmailer “Ronald Spector” (Ron) was recently arrested in New York.

In November 2024, after being contacted by a victim, I published the findings of an investigation detailing my involvement in a $6 million Coinbase support impersonation scam and other thefts… pic.twitter.com/ZitEV4nrIS

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) December 15, 2025

Zack paid close attention to the investigation, tracing the funds through a complex route from exchange to wallet, eventually tying everything to Spectre, revealing emails, New York IP addresses, and other personal information.

He couldn’t keep quiet, in part because some of the evidence used to identify him included changes he made to Ledger Live via Discord screen share, which showed he made a large deposit shortly after the theft occurred.

Unfortunately, the victim allegedly followed the advice of a friend and deleted the X account before the investigation was completed. At the time, Spector had only obtained about half of the stolen finds, so Zack hinted that he had an accomplice.

That was in 2024. After that, not much information was available until December 15, 2025, when Zack announced Spector’s arrest, crediting the success of the operation to his initial investigation.

It is unclear whether the funds were recovered or if the victims have any chance of getting their funds back. Even if Spectre’s accomplices exist, it’s still a light in the wind.

Coinbase has been at the center of similar scams

The deception Spector orchestrated was not a one-off event or a lucky escape. Coinbase and its users have been the unfortunate target of fraud and exploits, ranging from customer care impersonation to large-scale exploits.

The reason is not far-fetched. The platform is the largest and most popular US-based cryptocurrency exchange, boasting millions of users who hold significant assets that attract scammers, especially during bull markets when balances tend to grow large.

Cryptopolitan reports the claims of detectives like ZachXBT, who estimate that over $65 million was lost to Coinbase fraud between December 2024 and January 2025. Between January and March 2025, the value is approximately $46 million, and these methods bring the annual estimate to potentially $300 million to $400 million.

Although these numbers are large, they are likely still an underestimate as they do not include unreported cases or cases only shared with police or through support tickets.

Detectives like ZachXBT have criticized Coinbase for not doing enough to protect its users, but the exchange has repeatedly warned users not to trust unsolicited phone calls or random requests for sensitive information such as passwords, seed phrases, and private keys.

Coinbase has also been reported implemented Several powerful measures to effectively combat fraud, including an advanced fraud detection system that proactively identifies and blocks potential fraud. We also provide an extensive security guide that outlines best practices and common warning signs of fraud. Although rare, we have also demonstrated our commitment to customer safety by issuing refunds to customers affected by documented fraud incidents.

Despite these extensive precautions, personal vigilance remains important as scams persist. Fortunately, news such as Spector’s arrest highlights signs of improvement and shows that crypto fraud is not completely immune from investigation and law enforcement action.