Gemini says third-party incidents resulted in phishing scam targeting European users

Quick Take

  • Gemini customers across the UK and the European Economic Area were targeted by several phishing scams in 2022.
  • The exchange disclosed details of the incidents, acknowledging that a “limited number” of customers email addresses and partial phone numbers were leaked by a third-party.

Gemini disclosed incidents attributed to a third party that resulted in a phishing campaign targeting users in the UK and Europe, according to a client email seen by The Block.

Scammers have used emails and websites mimicking Gemini's branding, with the company saying that it believes the campaigns resulted from two third-party vendor incidents. No account information or systems were impacted, and all customer accounts remain secure.  

"We are aware of two incidents during which bad actors obtained the names, email addresses, and/or truncated (partial) phone numbers of certain Gemini customers from two third-party vendors that we use," the email noted, going on to say the firm had previously mentioned one of these scams. The exchange said it just recently learned of another one that occurred last fall.

The second incident involved "bad actors" who "phished and tricked" employees of a third-party vendor into providing logins to their platforms. The bad actors used the login credentials to access the names, email addresses, and in some cases, partial phone numbers of some Gemini customers.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

"We understand that these incidents may be part of a broader attack on crypto platforms by this group of bad actors," Gemini said in the email.  The UK Information Commissioner's Office and the Irish Data Protection Commissioner have been informed.

Gemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Block.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Adam Morgan is a reporter covering cryptocurrency, financial markets, and economics – anything from price movements, earnings reports, and inflation to the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decisions and everything in between. Adam is based in London.

Editor

To contact the editors of this story:
Nathan Crooks at
[email protected]
Michael McSweeney at
[email protected]