We Investigated ChainHaven: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Chainhaven.io site popped up, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that unmistakably confirms it is, in fact, a fraudulent site.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and customer-centric service, Chainhaven.io does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

ChainHaven Scam Overview

Originally, ChainHaven poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this service 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 more realistic, rascals employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the scam 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 vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

ChainHaven Scam

To begin with, ChainHaven copies the layout of numerous equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Tanerex, Verunax or Adminvwis. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these scam websites are operated by a single gang of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the ChainHaven Scam Works?

ChainHaven is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various 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 advanced 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 begin the deceptive scheme, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), fraud actors boost the exposure of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users receive an incentive to register, drawn by the promise of getting crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promotions, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with ChainHaven”, “Your crypto savings are secured with ChainHaven, “Start earning with ChainHaven – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially as the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, crooks will not 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 into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require having funds on your account. In the case of ChainHaven, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the deposited money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the problems start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that swindlers are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal information, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And every check will uncover 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 Chainhaven.io. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Chainhaven.io insists on cryptocurrency payments exclusively, excluding conventional methods like bank transfers. This strategy ensures anonymity for the scam and eliminates any possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Credentials. ChainHaven arouses suspicion by failing to provide critical information about ownership, location, and legal registration. The lack of valid contact details and the recent creation of domain and social media profiles cast doubt on its legitimacy.
• Baseless Hype Generation. ChainHaven resorts to fabricating non-existent achievements, such as contracts with Coinbase or endorsements from Elon Musk, to manipulate emotions and enhance the perception of potential returns, enticing victims to invest more.
• Fictitious Celebrity Association. ChainHaven employs a deceptive tactic by falsely associating itself with well-known figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, the scam falsely claims partnerships with established entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask to bolster its false credibility.
• Potential Ponzi-Like Model. The scam operates on a pyramid-style referral system disseminated through social media, benefiting only initial participants and relying on later investments to sustain the illusion.
• Unrealistic Profit Promises. Promising improbable returns of 50-100-200%, ChainHaven capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Chainhaven.io as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with ChainHaven 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 duration of the fraud, scoundrels may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier determined, these rascals have no intent of returning your capital. So, what can these email messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your system.

Both plugins and files added to email messages can serve as a shell for various malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As noted, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to lose and aim to boost gains.

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