After a long career building some of the art world’s most iconic pieces — including contributions to Jeff Koons’ famed Balloon Dog sculptures — Suman turned to crypto investing as a way to grow his retirement funds. Over time, he built up a substantial portfolio: 17.5 BTC and 225 ETH, stored securely on a hardware wallet for maximum protection.

But even offline wallets can’t shield against deception.

Earlier this year, Suman received a message alerting him to supposed suspicious activity tied to his Coinbase account. Concerned, he followed up — unknowingly walking into a trap. A man identifying himself as a Coinbase security representative called, appearing to know intimate details of his setup. He guided Suman through a fake security process, asking him to enter his wallet’s seed phrase into a website cleverly disguised to resemble Coinbase’s interface.

Thinking he was safeguarding his funds, Suman followed instructions.

Days later, another individual claiming to represent the company called back, further solidifying the illusion of legitimacy. By the end of that second call, all of Suman’s digital assets — worth over $2 million — had been drained.

The incident serves as a reminder that in the world of crypto, scams don’t always rely on brute force or high-tech hacks. Sometimes, all it takes is trust — and a convincing voice on the other end of the line.

The post He Spent His Life Building Art – and Lost It All to a Crypto Con appeared first on Coindoo.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 19, 2025 7:00 am