Consumer complaint received 2023-07-08
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: IL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Dear CFPB, I am writing to bring to your attention a situation that can only be characterized as disgusting greed void of humanity. I know that Im not the first person who has experienced mind-boggling, blatant theft, and diversions, and lies from Coinbase. All you have to do is look at the thousands of reviews on the XXXX XXXX XXXX  website, under Coinbase , Inc . The score is very fairly an F, and if you quickly read over some of the reviews, they will sound very very similar to what Im about to tell you. Almost shockingly. And somehow are federal government has allowed them to continue to operate and steal from consumers, then get a slap on the hand with a civil lawsuit. This just can absolutely not stand anymore. Over the course of two years, I have been repeatedly misled and deceived by Coinbase regarding the existence and status of my life savings held in my Coinbase account. It started off as over {$40000.00} and XXXX, however, once that money was in there, Coinbases shielded me from ever being able to see it. And when I asked him where it was, they acted like I didnt know what I was talking about most cases. I have meticulously documented every conversation, capturing screenshots and other evidence that clearly demonstrates their consistent lies and deflections as well as documentation showing that the company store {$30000.00} for me and then another XXXX and maybe even more. 

Between XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I entrusted Coinbase with my hard-earned money, believing that it was being securely held in my account. However, thanks to a third-party app called XXXX, which directly connects to my Coinbase account, I was able to corroborate that my funds were not being properly managed by Coinbase. This revelation has left me devastated as I have potentially lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars due to their negligence. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I discovered that not only had Coinbase stolen {$30000.00} from my account but they also later took an additional {$15000.00} after falsely claiming that my account was in a negative balance. Despite providing evidence that I had followed all the necessary procedures and abided by their policies, Coinbase refused to refund the stolen funds, citing their policy not to reimburse customers. They also tried to tell me that the money was stolen, which shouldve been covered under the insurance under Coinbases one that I was paying and later found that I was not eligible for stolen funds reimbursement. Ive been told that the money is still in my account, but they wont tell me where it is and Ive been told that it was my error and that I sent it to an outside wallet and so therefore Im responsible for it. That is also very very false. When I was questioning him about all of this, there was even a point where email where they asked for all of my bank statements so they would have all the necessary information to make a decision as to whether or not I was worthy of receiving my money back. This was very interesting to me as their policy clearly states that if Coinbase ever asked that question to you, you promptly report it. So I did and they told me that they just wanted me to do at this time and not to worry about that. 

This situation has caused significant financial hardship and emotional distress for me. I trusted Coinbase as a reputable platform to safeguard my life savings, only to be betrayed by their actions. The loss of such a substantial amount of money has had a profound impact on my financial stability and future prospects. It is cost me hundreds and hundreds of hours on the phone and email and their stupid chat with their customer support who is without a doubt the worst Ive ever dealt with ever in the history of customer support. I would ask to speak to a supervisor and 100 % of the time they would always tell me that there was no one else I could talk to. 

I implore the CFPB to thoroughly investigate this matter and hold Coinbase accountable for their deceptive practices and failure to protect customer funds. It is crucial that appropriate action is taken to ensure that no other individuals fall victim to similar injustices at the hands of this company. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I hope that the CFPB will take swift action to rectify this situation and provide me with the justice and restitution I deserve.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation