We Looked Into Bitwane: Scam or Trustworthy? The Verdict

Recently, Bitwane.com website appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that unmistakably reveals it is, in fact, a deceptive site.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and customer-centric service, Bitwane.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Bitwane Scam Overview

Originally, Bitwane poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, frauds employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the scam as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Bitwane Scam

To begin with, Bitwane shares the appearance of many similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Binernsinvestment, Forgeusdt or Usdpro. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these fraudulent websites are managed by a single group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Bitwane Scam Works?

Bitwane is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another common 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 complex psychological tricks that make the user believe in the authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Utilizing bots and paid ads (when feasible), fraud actors intensify the presence of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promos, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Bitwane”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Bitwane, “Start earning with Bitwane – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that obtaining the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially since the gift 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 register using your personal info, swindrels will not be able to earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers 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 crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require having funds on your account. In the case of Bitwane, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers have zero intentions to give your money back. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal info, deceivers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And every check will share more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed 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 Bitwane.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Bitwane 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. Bitwane.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. Bitwane 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. Bitwane.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%, Bitwane preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Bitwane as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Bitwane 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.

• Report the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

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 timeline of the scam, its actors may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto funds. As we previously determined, these deceivers have no plan of restoring your money. So, what can these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful software onto your system.

Both add-ons and files included to email messages can act as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always above zero. As noted, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have nothing to lose and intend to boost revenues.

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