Investigating Coingrailed: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Coingrailed.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly confirms it is, actually, a deceptive service.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Coingrailed.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Coingrailed Scam Overview

Originally, Coingrailed poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as if it was 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 vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Coingrailed Scam

First and foremost, Coingrailed copies the appearance of many similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Coinerflow, Xelurex or Xaelonex. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these scam online platforms are led by the same team of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Coingrailed Scam Works?

Coingrailed 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 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 complex 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 initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and paid ads (when possible), scam actors increase the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Coingrailed”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Coingrailed, “Start earning with Coingrailed – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that getting the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the reward 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 sign up using your personal info, frauds will not be able to earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require having money on your account. With Coingrailed, 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 committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious problems start to surface. 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 withdraw 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 scoundrels are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Coingrailed.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal data, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks 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 Coingrailed.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Coingrailed 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, rascals may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier determined, these deceivers have no plan of restoring your funds. So, what do these messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – this is another element of the scam designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your system.

Both extensions and files added to emails can act as a carrier for different malicious software. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always above zero. As noted, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to lose and strive to maximize profits.

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