Investigating Ethwoa: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Ethwoa.com site appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

Despite the promises of the most easy, dependable, and client-friendly service, Ethwoa.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a clear scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Ethwoa Scam Overview

Originally, Ethwoa poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as 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 blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Ethwoa Scam

First and foremost, Ethwoa shares the layout of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Ethtyu, Bezoraz or Muskrun. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these deceptive websites are operated by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Ethwoa Scam Works?

Ethwoa is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another common 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To begin the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Employing bots and paid promotions (when possible), scam actors intensify the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote 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 Ethwoa in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain an encouragement to enroll, attracted by the promise of receiving cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the ads, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Ethwoa”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Ethwoa, “Start earning with Ethwoa – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed users happily proceed – especially as the reward 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 information, rascals will not be able to earn even a penny 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 into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, 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 sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have money on your account. With Ethwoa, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money 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 engaging on this site hoping to use all the credited funds and withdraw them.

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

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal data, frauds 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, 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 Ethwoa.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Ethwoa 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 to Authorities. Your initial action should involve reporting the scam to local authorities responsible for addressing financial fraud. Additionally, reach out to wallet providers and engage with the technical support teams of social networks. This collective effort raises the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Inform Your Inner Circle. Extend your impact by sharing information about the scam with your close friends. Similar to notifying authorities, this dissemination of details curbs the scammers’ potential to deceive.
• Document the Trail. Assemble a comprehensive record by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. This encompasses the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials offer invaluable leads for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments may not typically align with traditional bank refund policies, it’s worthwhile to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain a positive outlook until you secure confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Insight. Shift your focus from the financial loss to gaining wisdom. Consider your loss as an investment in comprehending the tactics employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their distinctive traits, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant pledges they make. This knowledge equips you to recognize and avoid future traps, minimizing the risk of enduring further 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 scam, its masters may reach out to you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier figured out, these scammers have no intention of returning your money. So, what do these email messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately installing destructive software onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments attached to email messages can function as a carrier for different malicious code. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As noted, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to give up and intend to maximize gains.

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