Explosive DOJ Probe Launched into Coinbase's $20M Ransom Nightmare

Hackers Bribed Indian Staff, Stole Sensitive Data

The U.S. Justice Department has unleashed a full-blown criminal investigation into a wild breach at Coinbase. We're talking bribed overseas employees and a chilling $20 million ransom demand that's got everyone on edge.

U.S. authorities are diving deep to uncover how these cyber crooks managed to swipe sensitive user data from Coinbase. They pulled off this heist by greasing the palms of some overseas support staff. Insiders spill that the feds are hot on this case.

The DOJ's criminal division in Washington is zeroing in on how these hackers wormed their way into Coinbase's system. They bribed customer service workers in India to get their hands on some seriously sensitive info.

Paul Grewal, Coinbase's top legal eagle, confirmed they're in tight with the DOJ and other law enforcement agencies around the globe. They're all gunning for criminal charges against the masterminds behind this chaos. Grewal assures that Coinbase itself is in the clear, not under investigation.

Coinbase blew the whistle on this mess back on May 15, revealing how hackers used slick social engineering tricks to nab user data before hitting them with a hefty $20 million ransom. But here's the kicker - the ransom demand actually dropped earlier, on May 11, through an anonymous email. Why it took days for Coinbase to shout it from the rooftops? That's still a mystery.

The attackers got their hands on a treasure trove of data: names, addresses, phone numbers, government IDs, and more. This nightmare might have started as early as January. Coinbase gave the boot to the customer service workers caught in the crossfire and now they're bracing for a potential $400 million hit to fix this mess.

Coinbase insists that this fiasco only touched a tiny slice of their users - less than 1%. But one of the unlucky ones was none other than Sequoia Capital's bigwig, Roelof Botha, whose personal info got snatched.