Circle Says It Lost $2M to Email Fraudsters in June

The USDC issuer said in an SEC filing that customer funds were not impacted by the incident.

AccessTimeIconJul 8, 2021 at 5:51 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 3:21 a.m. UTC
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Circle Internet Financial lost $2 million to email fraudsters in an “incident” that occurred last month, the payments company said in Thursday regulatory filings.

The “email fraud incident" did not impact customer funds and accounts, and Circle’s “information systems” remained secure, Circle said. It said the unnamed fraudsters stole $2 million in “company-owned funds” in June 2021. 

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  • Circle made the disclosure as part of its preparation to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The $4.5 billion payments company is positioning itself to be Wall Street’s highest-profile stablecoin specialty firm.

    Circle did not elaborate on the incident in its SEC filings. A spokesperson declined to comment.

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