The Conobit Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Conobit.com website appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly reveals it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Conobit.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Conobit Scam Overview

Originally, Conobit poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted 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 says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote the fraud as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Conobit Scam

To begin with, Conobit repeats the appearance of multiple similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Celinax, Beastox or Relybit. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these fraudulent websites are managed by the same group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Conobit Scam Works?

Conobit is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several 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 sophisticated 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 fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos with the aforementioned 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 Conobit in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

At this point, it is possible to skip 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 said, frauds bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only 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, 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

Eventually, any crypto operations require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Conobit, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website 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

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to give your money back. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Conobit.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal information, deceivers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And every check will reveal more and more info of yours, 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 Conobit.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Conobit 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 Conobit 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 Conobit, 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 Conobit is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Conobit 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 course of the fraud, its masters may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto assets. As we previously determined, these scammers have no plan of giving back your funds. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – that is another element of the scam designed to entice you into willingly installing malicious programs onto your device.

Both add-ons and files attached to email messages can serve as a carrier for various malware. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of little concern, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have no principles to lose and strive to boost gains.

Frequently asked questions