Investigating DARLUNIA: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Darlunia.com site appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a deceptive service.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, dependable, and customer-centric service, Darlunia.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your funds and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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DARLUNIA Scam Overview

Originally, DARLUNIA poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this platform is partnerships with 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 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 mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

DARLUNIA Scam

Initially, DARLUNIA copies the appearance of numerous similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Nosalo, Lasmond or Wixtrades. They are completely identical in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Probably, all these scam websites are led by a single group of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the DARLUNIA Scam Works?

DARLUNIA is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the same overall layout. Another mutual 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 legitimacy 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 well-liked social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors increase the visibility of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to sign up, attracted by the promise of receiving crypto prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with DARLUNIA”, “Your crypto savings are secured with DARLUNIA, “Start earning with DARLUNIA – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, frauds will not 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 signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks 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 at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have capital on your account. With DARLUNIA, 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 website. 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 deposited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the issues start to surface. When comparing the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the capital 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 realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Darlunia.com 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 funds back. And each of these checks will uncover more and more information, 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 Darlunia.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with DARLUNIA 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 fraud, rascals may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we already figured out, these rascals have no intention of giving back your funds. So, what can these email messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another element of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful software onto your system.

Both plugins and files added to emails can function as a shell for different malware. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As stated, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to give up and strive to boost gains.

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