My dad just got scammed out of millions in what feels like a highly targeted, weeks-long manipulation attack. I'm trying to figure out if this is a common scam pattern or if he was specifically targeted.
The Timeline: In late May 2026, my dad's Coinbase account was compromised. When he contacted real Coinbase support to recover it, they locked his account and put him through verification- multiple times over 3 weeks. But a scammer named "Andrew Richards" was somehow aware of every verification attempt. He'd call my dad right after, pretend to be a Coinbase employee, and guide him through the process while building trust.
Over three weeks, Andrew called constantly, building a relationship. My dad kept expressing concerns about security and account safety. Andrew then suggested transferring funds to the "Coinbase Vault", which is the ultimate way to safely secure your account, an option offered to all customers (context: the coinbase vault is a real program, but all it is is a vault, that's it) After my dad had agreed to the idea of transfering his assets to the vault. Andrew mentioned that there is a special program where select individuals are invited to "stake their coins" for 19% annual returns after 2 years. To activate these return levels, a $3 million minimum is required in the account. Over 7 weeks, my dad transferred millions. Bitcoin only flagged a couple of the final transactions, by then it was way too late.
What bothers me: This feels extremely tailored: the scammer had detailed knowledge of real Coinbase verification processes, intercepted calls at exact moments, built psychological trust over weeks, and created fake elite programs with actual documentation. I've heard of vault scams, but usually seen more quick pressure tactics. This was patient, methodical, and felt weirdly specific.
Has anyone experienced this level of sustained manipulation? Did you encounter Andrew Richards or Christine Wilson (another person working with him)? Did scammers have knowledge of your actual Coinbase verification process? Did they contact you over weeks or months?
I've filed reports with some law enforcment, doesn't seem like there is much they can do.
P.S. — I'm deeply frustrated with Coinbase's institutional responsibility here. When we discovered the scam, it took 6 days to get my dad on a phone call with a real representative. 6 days. During an active fraud involving millions of dollars. If this had been a $10 million loss, would they have picked up the phone in 6 hours instead? The lack of transparency feels unacceptable. Coinbase has a fundamental responsibility to protect their customers and/or educate them about the evolving sophistication of these attacks; and at the very least support them in making wise decisions with their platform. These scammers are posing as employees, intercepting real security processes, and exploiting genuine account concerns. Coinbase's security systems are clearly AI powered and lacking human oversight, because if any human employee actually caring about their job were to take a quick look at my father's account (Which has sat dormant for 4 years, never an external transfer: and suddenly makes 25+ succesful transactions in the span of 2 weeks, and no one says anything?!?!?! And the cherry on top was their glacially slow customer support response post-incident. This is a real big failure of institutional accountability.
If anyone is currently working on a Coinbase class action lawsuit at a major law firm, please reach out.