One of the ways that online hackers and scammers try to get information from customers is through phishing.
Phishing is a fraudulent practice that can happen through different means of communication, including emails, SMS texts, social media posts, and URL advertisements. These attackers will brand themselves and pretend to be Coinbase in order to obtain sensitive information, such as passwords and 2FA codes.
To help identify what these may look like, are some examples of different phishing scams:
When hovering over the hyperlink in this email example above, you will find that it directs you to a page that is not Coinbase.com. This is an immediate red flag – do not engage with these emails.
Always double-check who the email sender is. It may appear to be coming from "Coinbase," but you will find that the email address above is not from a sender with a @coinbase.com email address. Official communication will come from an email addresses ending in @coinbase.com only. Any variation from this may be indicative that the email you received is malicious in nature.
Website
Take note of the URL: www-coinbase.com. The landing page may look familiar, but the dash between “www” and “coinbase.com” in the URL signifies that this is not www.coinbase.com. Scammers can create fake websites asking for sensitive information to gain control of your accounts.
Coinbase does not ask for your private information such as two factor authentication codes or private keys. If someone claiming to be from Coinbase asks you for this information, it is a scam.
TIP: Utilizing your browser’s bookmark function to access Coinbase websites is a good way to safeguard any URL typos.
SMS
If you receive a text message reporting that you’ve received digital currency that you did not authorize, it is likely a phishing attempt. Coinbase does not send out texts to verify transactions. Notice that the links here do not direct you to www.coinbase.com. Do not click these links.
Reporting Phishing
Please report any Coinbase phishing sites you encounter here.
If you are a victim of a phishing attack, please immediately take action to secure your account by changing your email and Coinbase password. If you have further questions or suffered a financial loss due to this attack, please submit a support ticket here.