Coinbase says cyber criminals stole customer information and demanded ransom

Criminals bribed some of Coinbase’s customer service agents who live outside the US to hand over personal data on customers, the company said (Richard Drew/AP)

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange based in the US, said criminals had improperly obtained personal data on the exchange’s customers for use in crypto-stealing scams and were demanding a 20 million dollar (£15 million) payment not to publicly release the information.

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong said in a social media post that criminals had bribed some of the company’s customer service agents who live outside the US to hand over personal data on customers, such as names, dates of birth and partial social security numbers.