Recently, Claim-hilo.app website appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly indicates it is, in truth, a scam platform.
Regardless of the promises of the most easy, reliable, and customer-centric service, Claim-hilo.app does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.
Claim HILO Scam Overview
Originally, Claim HILO poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this site is backing from 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, rascals use deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. Obviously, 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.
Claim HILO Scam
First and foremost, Claim HILO shares the appearance of numerous similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Spzia, Mhzgs or Uueou. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these deceptive websites are led by the same team of scammers.
Cryptocurrency Scam Summary
| Website | Claim-hilo.app |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 172.67.191.16 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent offers of cryptocurrency services |
How the Claim HILO Scam Works?
Claim HILO is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar 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 sophisticated psychological tricks that make the user believe in the validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.
Step 1: Promotion
To begin the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when feasible), fraud actors boost the presence of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise 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 Claim HILO in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes
Step 2: Gaining Traffic
After following the promotions, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Claim HILO”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Claim HILO, “Start earning with Claim HILO – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that unlocking the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.
This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, rascals will not be able to 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 data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.
As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, you need to 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 crypto operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of Claim HILO, users are also forced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.
This is where the issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can notice 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
Needless to say that swindlers have zero intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.
By asking for your personal data, deceivers 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 should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then sold 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 Claim-hilo.app. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.
- Absent company details. Claim HILO does not provide any documentation about its ownership, location or registration. No legitimate contact details are given either. Moreover, it appears that the domain and all social network pages were registered quite recently.
- Fake sponsorship from a celebrity. Scams like Claim HILO like to pick a celebrity as a sponsor of this entire campaign. For obvious reasons, fraudsters generally choose Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, Mark Zuckerberg, and similar celebrities. They do not disdain claiming partnership with a company as well. Even though Coinbase, Binance or MetaMask never heard of Claim HILO, they do not care – this creates a halo of credibility.
- Potential Ponzi Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral system to spread reach through social media. In fact, only the first members will receive the payoff, at the cost of the money brought by other members.
- Hype without facts. Frauds can cheer up their victims from time to time, using claims about non-existent events. “We got contracts with Coinbase”, “Elon Musk mentioned us as the most prolific crypto project” – you could likely hear something like that. This is made to make people believe in their money return. This can be the sauce to make people top-up their accounts once again.
- Crypto-only incoming payments. Whether the user tries to top-up the account, hackers will only accept payments in crypto – no bank transfers or other payment methods. Such an approach completely hides the identity of the company and deprives you of the ability to ask for a refund.
- Claims are too good to be true. Let’s be sane and sober: even in crypto space, there are not many places where you can earn 50-100-200%. Being able to participate in all of them is nearly impossible, as well as it is impossible to insure or hedge all the risks. Even by that reason alone I can tell that the Claim HILO is a definite scam.
What Should I do as a Victim?
If you had to deal with Claim HILO 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 to Authorities. Your initial action should involve reporting the scam to local authorities responsible for addressing financial fraud. Additionally, reach out to wallet providers and engage with the technical support teams of social networks. This collective effort raises the bar for the scammers’ operations.
- Inform Your Inner Circle. Extend your impact by sharing information about the scam with your close friends. Similar to notifying authorities, this dissemination of details curbs the scammers’ potential to deceive.
- Document the Trail. Assemble a comprehensive record by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. This encompasses the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials offer invaluable leads for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
- Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments may not typically align with traditional bank refund policies, it’s worthwhile to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain a positive outlook until you secure confirmation of the loss.
- Transform Loss into Insight. Shift your focus from the financial loss to gaining wisdom. Consider your loss as an investment in comprehending the tactics employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their distinctive traits, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant pledges they make. This knowledge equips you to recognize and avoid future traps, minimizing the risk of enduring further 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 timeline of the fraud, its actors may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we already figured out, these rascals have no intent of returning your money. So, what can these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious software onto your computer.
Both plugins and files attached to email messages can serve as a carrier for different malware. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and intend to maximize gains.
