The Punishment of the Hacker Who Seized More than 500 Coinbase Accounts Has Been Announced! Here are the Details

A British hacker has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for his role in a scam that took over more than 500 Coinbase accounts and stole more than $900,000.

Hacker Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Prison for $900 Thousand Coinbase Fraud

Elliot Gunton, who was just 17 and 18 at the time of the crimes in 2018 and 2019, used phishing websites to redirect online logins to a fake website, allowing him access to accounts.

Gunton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering outside the UK. Norwich Crown Court Judge Alice Robinson described the offenses as “highly sophisticated crimes involving significant planning and technical expertise”.

Gunton, who was previously sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2019 for stealing TalkTalk customer data, avoided a prison sentence by completing a 12-month rehabilitation order. He was also ordered to repay $524,700 after hacking high-profile Instagram accounts.

US Court Orders Crypto Scammers to Repay $31 Million

A federal court in the United States ordered Abner Alejandro Tinoco and his firm Kikit and Mess Investments to pay over $31 million after running fraudulent cryptocurrency and foreign exchange schemes.

The court required Tinoco and his firm to pay $6.2 million in damages, $6.2 million in disgorgement and $18.8 million in civil penalties to nearly 200 victims.

The fraudulent activity continued from September 2020 until the Commodity Futures Trading Commission intervened nearly a year later.

*This is not investment advice.