Retired Artist Loses Over $2 Million in Crypto Scam Involving Fake Coinbase Support

A devastating crypto scam has cost retired artist Ed Suman more than $2 million, after fraudsters posing as Coinbase support representatives tricked him into revealing his private wallet credentials.

According to a Bloomberg report dated May 17, Suman, 67, had spent nearly 20 years as a professional fabricator in the art world, contributing to iconic works like Jeff Koons’ famous Balloon Dog sculptures. Following his retirement, he shifted focus to cryptocurrency investments, gradually amassing 17.5 Bitcoin and 225 Ether — the bulk of his retirement savings.

Suman took careful steps to protect his digital assets, storing them in a Trezor Model One hardware wallet, a popular choice among crypto investors for offline storage. However, in March 2024, he received a text message warning of unauthorized access to his Coinbase account — a tactic often used in phishing scams targeting crypto users.

Shortly after responding to the text, Suman received a call from a man claiming to be "Brett Miller," a Coinbase security expert. The caller demonstrated intimate knowledge of Suman’s wallet setup and claimed that his hardware wallet could still be compromised. He then instructed Suman to enter his wallet’s seed phrase into a website that was cleverly designed to mimic Coinbase’s official interface.

Tragically, Suman fell for the scam. A second scammer contacted him again nine days later, repeating the fake security process. By the end of that interaction, Suman’s entire crypto portfolio had been stolen.