Ethktb Reviewed: Legit or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Ethktb.com service appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible proof that unmistakably confirms it is, in fact, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and client-friendly service, Ethktb.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Ethktb Scam Overview

Originally, Ethktb poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this platform is backing from celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds employ AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the scam as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Ethktb Scam

First and foremost, Ethktb copies the design of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Fpmhelenic, E or Bitrady. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these fraudulent online platforms are operated by a single group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Ethktb Scam Works?

Ethktb is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the similar 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid ads (when possible), fraud actors increase the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, rascals will not be able to 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 mentioned, frauds bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal info 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, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of Ethktb, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most 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 trading on this website hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When comparing the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve 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 swindlers are naught on intentions to give your money back. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting 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 a dozen other checks you should go through before getting your money back. And each of these checks will share more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded 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 Ethktb.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Ethktb employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, Ethktb exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Ethktb as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Ethktb arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Ethktb.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. Ethktb utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Ethktb 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, its masters may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we earlier figured out, these rascals have no intent of returning your money. So, what do these emails and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another element of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into deliberately installing harmful programs onto your device.

Both plugins and files included to emails can function as a carrier for diverse malicious software. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always above zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and intend to boost revenues.

Frequently asked questions