We Investigated Clskbtcminer: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Clskbtcminer.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a scam platform.

Despite the promises of the most easy, reliable, and customer-centric service, Clskbtcminer.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Clskbtcminer Scam Overview

Originally, Clskbtcminer poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that have relation to 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 promote the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Clskbtcminer Scam

First and foremost, Clskbtcminer shares the layout of numerous equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Legitdogemining, Manfec or Minepulse. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are managed by the same group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Clskbtcminer Scam Works?

Clskbtcminer is a part of a significant 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 shared 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Employing bots and sponsored ads (when achievable), scam actors intensify the exposure of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake 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 registers the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Clskbtcminer”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Clskbtcminer, “Start earning with Clskbtcminer – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal data, rascals 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 said, frauds bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info 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 promised 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. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require you to have capital on your account. With Clskbtcminer, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash 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 trading on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

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

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels have 0 intentions to send you money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Clskbtcminer.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal data, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you should go through before getting your money back. And each of these checks will reveal 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 Clskbtcminer.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Clskbtcminer 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 course of the scam, fraudsters may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we earlier figured out, these scoundrels have no intent of returning your capital. So, what do these emails and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another element of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately installing destructive programs onto your computer.

Both plugins and attachments included to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of little concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no scruples to lose and strive to maximize profits.

Frequently asked questions