Consumer complaint received 2022-11-01
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: VA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Problem getting a card or closing an account
Sub-issue: Trouble closing card

Complaint:
Someone has made an unauthorized access on my Coinbase account. My account email is XXXX The unauthorized person tried to transfer {$5000.00} from my bank account at XXXX XXXX. The transfer failed due to insufficient funds, but Coinbase credited my account with {$5000.00} anyways. The fraudster purchased $ XXXX in XXXX XXXX this credit. 

While doing this, the fraudster set up a Coinbase debit card in my name. I know this because I received a copy of the debit card. I saw in another bank account that a fraudster had set up an external account with XXXX and tried to activate an external transfer using verification deposits. I deleted this account from XXXX direct. They tried to make a transfer from my XXXX account, but XXXX caught on and shut the account down. 

I logged into Coinbase and immediately locked the account. I then called Coinbase to try and resolve the situation. After XXXX minutes of prodding, the agent eventually said she blocked the card. I was not able to shut down the fraudulent account because the agent could not do it. She said I had to contact the Coinbase card line. She could not connect me. She said hang up, call bank and press an option to verify my account through email. I used this option but an email was never sent. The agent said she would send more verification emails, but they were never received. She said I could not speak to the Coinbase debit card team without using the email verification. No other option to speak to this team is available. I am not receiving their verification emails, and because of this they said there is no other option available to speak to the Coinbase debit card team. I assume that if I am never able to reach the team, the fraudulent account will remain open. 

I presume that the fraudster was trying to use this account to transfer money from me, either through my bank accounts or Coinbase, so it needs to be shut down immediately to prevent further damages. I asked the agent if she could change my email to another address to try and receive message that way, but she said that could only be done by me after logging into my account. My account is locked though, so I am unable to do this, leaving with no options. My account needs to remain locked to prevent further fraud. 

Once the transfer from XXXX XXXX failed, Coinbase said I owe the deficient balance from the failed transfer and {$5000.00} XXXX purchase and they would confiscate funds to do so after a few days. I said I do not owe this as I did not make this transfer or purchase. They said I do according to their policy. They apparently have no fraud protection. I told them to go ahead and confiscate the XXXX to mitigate any further damage. The agent on the phone said they can not do that, that there is a grace period that has to resolve. Therefore if the price of XXXX drops substantially in the meantime, I will be liable for that drop. 

Note that when speaking to Coinbase, I can not speak directly to the resolution team. All of my communications with them are through email. I can only speak to an agent with limited knowledge and power. No supervisor exists to be transferred to. The party responsible for resolving this can not be reached by phone. I have messaged them through email several times today as this is an urgent situation and they have not responded after hours of attempts.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation