Investigating Bitswifter: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Bitswifter.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly reveals it is, actually, a scam platform.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Bitswifter.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your funds and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Bitswifter Scam Overview

Originally, Bitswifter poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, con actors use deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fraud as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Bitswifter Scam

To begin with, Bitswifter copies the appearance of many equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Bitoneco, Bitcoinsynergy or Wosnex. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these fraudulent websites are managed by a single team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Bitswifter Scam Works?

Bitswifter is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same overall layout. Another mutual element are the ways the scams like NAME are promoted, and the manner all this ends up to the victim of the scam. To reach peak efficiency, frauds apply sophisticated psychological tricks that make the user believe in the legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Using bots and paid promotions (when achievable), scam actors intensify the exposure of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

Promotions of cryptoscams like Bitswifter in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain an incentive to enroll, enticed by the commitment of getting crypto prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the ads, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Bitswifter”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Bitswifter, “Start earning with Bitswifter – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, frauds will not earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require having capital on your account. With Bitswifter, users are also forced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters have 0 intentions to return your money. Though to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC regulations say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will uncover more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded on the Darknet. Never reveal your real info to strangers!

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Bitswifter.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Bitswifter often resorts to fake endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. This fraudulent tactic extends to claiming partnerships with reputable companies like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite lacking any genuine affiliations.
• Cryptocurrency-Only Payments. Bitswifter.com exclusively accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, rejecting traditional bank transfers and other methods. This approach not only masks the company’s identity but also eliminates the possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Information. Bitswifter raises suspicion by withholding essential ownership, location, and registration details. Furthermore, the absence of legitimate contact information and the recent establishment of domain and social media pages intensify skepticism.
• Unsubstantiated Hype. Bitswifter.com employs groundless hype tactics, fabricating events like securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. These manipulative techniques aim to instill false confidence and encourage further investments.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme, leveraging a referral system spread through social media. However, only initial participants benefit, often at the expense of subsequent investors.
• Implausible Claims. Promising returns of 50-100-200%, Bitswifter preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Bitswifter as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Bitswifter site and fell victim to that scam, there are still some steps to take. They will make further scam attempts harder, and also boost the knowledge about that scam among folks.

• Immediate Reporting. Your initial step should involve promptly notifying local authorities specializing in financial fraud. Extend your reach by reaching out to wallet providers and engaging with social networks’ technical support teams. These actions serve to raise the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Share among Friends. Amplify your efforts by informing your close friends about the scam. Similar to informing authorities, this dissemination of information restricts the scammers’ potential victim pool.
• Preserve Crucial Information. Compile a comprehensive evidence archive by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. Collect the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These records could provide vital clues for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Exploring Refund Options. While most banks’ refund policies may exclude cryptocurrency payments, it’s advisable to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain hope until you obtain confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Knowledge. Turn your financial setback into an opportunity for growth. View your loss as an investment in understanding the strategies employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their telltale characteristics, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant promises they make. Equipped with this insight, you’ll be well-prepared to spot and evade future traps without suffering additional financial setbacks.

Scan your system for possible malware infections

Beware of cross scams! Scam actors can use your trust to make you download some stuff or interact with certain documents. It may be a trap that installs malware to your system. There are no moral barriers or limits for these scoundrels.

Throughout the duration of the scam, fraudsters may get in touch with you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we previously figured out, these scoundrels have no plan of returning your funds. So, what can these email messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – this is another component of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately running destructive applications onto your computer.

Both plugins and files added to emails can act as a carrier for various malicious code. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to lose and strive to boost profits.

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