Key Takeaways
- Ed Suman lost 17.5 BTC and 225 ETH after a phishing scam.
- The attack was linked to Coinbase's major data breach.
- Coinbase faces lawsuits and may pay up to $400M in reimbursements.
A retired artist who once worked on iconic sculptures like Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog has lost his entire digital asset savings—worth over $2 million—after falling victim to a phishing scam tied to the recent Coinbase data breach.
Details of the scam
Ed Suman, 67, told Bloomberg that in March 2025, he received a text warning of suspicious activity on his Coinbase account.
Shortly after, a man claiming to be from “Coinbase Security” called him.
The caller knew detailed information about Suman’s setup, including his use of a Trezor Model One hardware wallet and the exact balance he held.
The security procedure hoax
Persuaded that his funds were at risk, Suman was guided through a “security procedure” to link his wallet to Coinbase, which required entering his seed phrase on a fake website.
Nine days later, another call convinced him to repeat the process.
Financial losses
The result: 17.5 bitcoin and 225 ether vanished—valued at over $2 million at the time.
Coinbase data breach
Coinbase confirmed on May 15 that some customer service agents in India were bribed to leak user data, including balances and partial Social Security numbers.
The breach, which may date back to January, affected close to 1% of Coinbase’s monthly users.
Legal and financial repercussions
The company has refused hackers’ $20 million extortion demand and is setting aside up to $400 million for potential reimbursements.
However, Suman has yet to be told whether he’ll be compensated.
Legal actions against Coinbase
At least six lawsuits have since been filed against Coinbase, accusing it of inadequate security and a delayed response to the breach.
