Coinbase Bitcoin Scam: Massachusetts Civil Forfeiture Case

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts have initiated a civil forfeiture case connected to a Coinbase bitcoin scam that divested a family trust and its beneficiary of 33.7 BTC in 2023. Newly disclosed court filings outline how two fraudulent text messages sparked an extensive crypto theft investigation in the district, shedding light on both the capabilities of law enforcement tracking stolen assets and the limits where those trails ultimately terminate.

Key Takeaways:

• Prosecutors in Massachusetts initiated a civil forfeiture action regarding 33.7 BTC, valued at approximately $900,000 at the time, which was stolen from a Coinbase account in June 2023.
• The incident started with two SMS messages sent on June 1 and June 2, 2023, that falsely impersonated Coinbase and manipulated the beneficiary into revealing login details.
• Investigators tracked 11.2 of the stolen bitcoins to a Binance account established in Spain under the identity of Enrique Mora Morales.
• Portions of the assets were swapped into Monero and subsequently into Tether before Binance froze the account following an FBI request in August 2026.
• Only a small portion of the initial funds has been successfully seized so far, highlighting the significant amount that remains unrecovered.

Massachusetts Federal Prosecutors File Civil Forfeiture for Stolen Bitcoin

The forfeiture proceeding focuses on a 2023 account takeover that emptied a single Coinbase login managed by the beneficiary of a Massachusetts family trust. Combined, the personal wallet of the beneficiary and the wallet belonging to the trust held 33.7 bitcoin—valued at about $900,000 back then—with 28.5 BTC solely belonging to the trust.

Judicial documents indicate that the beneficiary was actively communicating via email with Coinbase regarding the creation of a separate trust account just as the fraud took place. This nuance is significant because the deception did not occur in a vacuum; it struck precisely when the victim had every reason to anticipate official correspondence concerning the account.