Some people don't guard their apps and are vulnerable to things like that with passwords and etc.
Didn't use Coinbase, however, for such things, there absolutely should be a question of securing who does the operation in question - a code to an auth. app, a secret code, a password to enter the phone, etc.
All of these and more.
And, of course - never give a phone to someone you don't know entirely, you can't trust people like that.

I've never heard anything about a "phone-to-phone crypto transfer". The article author should elaborate more on this new technology.
I would never store my crypto in a mobile crypto wallet and I would never give my mobile device to strangers. I also don't use Uber or taxis, so I guess that I'm safe, when it comes to such scams.
How did this "Uber driver" know who has a crypto wallet on his phone and who doesn't? Did he ask all his passengers to give him their mobile devices? He probably did some initial research and preparation before he started doing this scam.
Criminals are getting way more innovative, when it comes to stealing crypto, but every criminal gets caught, sooner or later.

Most likely that was the case, he didn't have to bypass the login credentials as he could be holding the phone already and so all he has to do is to open Coinbase and most likely the owner had the password save in his account in the phone itself.

And with that, it's going to be very quick for him to do the transfer. So yes, perhaps one lesson learn is that we shouldn't save the password itself on the phone so just in case it's not compromised, it might take days for someone to steal your crypto. And by that time, you might have reported to Coinbase already, or change everything.

The owner might not have enabled 2FA security on their account, because if they had, even if the perpetrator accessed the phone, he wouldn’t have been able to make a transaction without the 2FA code. Sometimes, we become too complacent since we carry our phones everywhere, and we forget to activate basic security features that are crucial for protecting our assets.

This was a tough lesson for the victim- unfortunately, learned the hard way.

If this ain't a case of hacking, then I wonder how possible it was for an Uber driver presumably driving, to access a borrowed phone and navigate to the customers crypto wallet or exchange, login, and then complete a transfer without the customer having a prior knowledge.

Some stories are just too plain to be true and if it isn't because of creating a post that some would manufacture stories for, then it would be a case of wrong story telling ability. Otherwise, such a customer lost the cryptocurrency on their way or due to their carelessness with the Uber driver.

One would think that with the plethora of information on the internet and offline on how to stay safe and protect your crypto assets that many people who hold crypto would have learned about this but this proves otherwise.

We must continue to educate friends, family and strangers who are interested in cryptocurrency. We must never assume that they know how to protect their assets . We much utilize all the medium to educate them.

My Coinbase app requires a secondary fingerprint scan to open it.
So even if I handed my phone to a friend for them to make a call, they would not be able to open the app.

Most financial apps involving the storage of any kind of funds will prompt you to enable this security feature when you first install them. I always say yes.
We are all human and even the most security conscious among us can have a momentary lapse of judgment.

That is what the extra security step is for. To protect us from our own stupidity, like letting a complete stranger use your cell phone.
All it takes is a couple of minutes and your life savings could be drained in an instant, not that you should ever store large amounts of crypto on any exchange.

CoinTelegraph known to being vague. But from quick search, it seems the victim use CoinBase custodial wallet/service which offer instant/off-chain send where you can enter phone number/email address belong to different Coinbase user[1].


Usually it's good suggestion. But in this case, it's not exactly helpful since the news mention the criminal threat his victim.

[1] https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/sending-or-receiving-cryptocurrency/instant-sends

There are also apps to set up a password for different apps on your phone individually. A scan of a finger, a picture with dots, and so on - all can be used to avoid the fate in the article.

Sometimes, it astonishes me how people treat their funds, even on custodial wallets and their gadgets.
I hope all the parties got their lessons and there will be one less possibility of such cases in the future to come, because it's abysmal to see the funds being drained in such a manner, basically because of the trust coming from nowhere.