Reported by Protos Staff

Coinbase has revealed that cybercriminals have tried to blackmail the exchange for $20 million in bitcoin (BTC) and have bribed rogue customer support agents to steal customer data.

According to the company’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, a ransom note sent to the exchange threatened to release this data that could be used to carry out social engineering scams.

Coinbase said, “Their aim was to gather a customer list they could contact while pretending to be Coinbase — tricking people into handing over their crypto. They then tried to extort Coinbase for $20 million to cover this up. We said no.”

The exchange claims it’s now “cooperating closely with law enforcement to pursue the harshest penalties possible and will not pay the $20 million ransom demand we received.”

Read full report: https://protos.com/coinbase-says-staff-leaked-customer-data-refuses-to-pay-20m-ransom/