Consumer complaint received 2025-10-30 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Summary of Incident In late XXXX, I began seeking XXXX employment opportunities to generate additional income for home remodeling expenses and debt repayment. During this search, I was contacted by an individual identifying herself as XXXX, who stated that her company had openings for remote online sales positions. The position was described as legitimate, involving performing online sales tasks through a web-based platform. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I was recruited through an online platform known as XXXX. The platform presented itself as a legitimate business providing paid online sales work involving XXXX and progressive sales levels. XXXX with XXXX was conducted exclusively through XXXX  Nature of the Scheme Upon onboarding, I was instructed to log in daily to perform XXXX sales transactions. Payment was allegedly based on completed sales volume. However, when my account reflected a negative balance, I was directed to top up my account by transferring additional funds in order to continue work and restore a positive balance. 
These top-ups were made using cryptocurrency transactions, primarily XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX through exchanges such as Coinbase and XXXX, often funded via XXXX and direct bank wire transfers. 
Over time, I realized that I was continuously required to deposit additional funds and had not received any legitimate payments. The platforms administrators claimed that commissions and withdrawals could only be processed after completing certain tasks and paying additional fees. 
Under these pretenses, I was misled into transferring substantial amounts of cryptocurrency to wallet addresses controlled by the perpetrators. 
XXXX  Financial Impact Between XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, I transferred an estimated {$200000.00} XXXX to the fraudulent parties through various methods, summarized as follows : {$100000.00} via Home Equity Line of Credit ( HELOC ) {$40000.00} personal bank loan {$33000.00} borrowed from my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$15000.00} withdrawn from personal savings Despite repeated requests, I was never permitted to withdraw any earnings. When I completed all required tasks and attempted to withdraw my balance of {$440000.00}, I was informed that a XXXX % tax payment amounting to {$150000.00} was required before funds could be released. At this point, I recognized the operation as fraudulent. 
XXXX  Summary of Loss and Timeline Recruitment Date : XX/XX/XXXX Final Transaction Date : XX/XX/XXXX Total Funds Lost : Approximately {$200000.00} XXXX Fraudulent Platform : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Used : Coinbase, XXXX Funding Sources : HELOC, personal loan, XXXX ( k ), savings, XXXX XXXX Conclusion This report is submitted to formally document my experience with the Climbonline employment scam, which involved deceptive recruitment practices, coercive financial demands, and the fraudulent acquisition of funds through cryptocurrency. I am requesting a full investigation into this matter and assistance in identifying and recovering the funds lost to this scheme.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation