Finolu Reviewed: Real Deal or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Finolu.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable evidence that unmistakably confirms it is, actually, a fraudulent service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Finolu.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Finolu Scam Overview

Originally, Finolu poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this service is backing from 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 real, rascals use deepfake videos with those celebs promote the scam as if it was 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 glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Finolu Scam

First and foremost, Finolu shares the design of multiple similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Crolbit, Bitzeex or Bitexcrypt. They are completely identical in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these fraudulent websites are operated by the same group of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Finolu Scam Works?

Finolu is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the identical 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 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 start 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. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when feasible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the ads, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Finolu”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Finolu, “Start earning with Finolu – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, swindrels 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 mentioned, frauds bait folks into registration for bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available to use right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require having money on your account. In the case of Finolu, users are also forced to top up to use 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 credited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can notice 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 have 0 intentions to send you money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Finolu.com they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, 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 should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Finolu.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Finolu 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.

• Secure Your Actions. Begin by promptly reporting the scam to appropriate local authorities tasked with handling financial fraud. Notify wallet providers and engage with social networks’ technical support teams. By taking these measures, you contribute to making the scammers’ operations significantly more difficult.
• Expand Awareness. Extend your efforts by sharing the scam information with your close friends. This action has a parallel effect to reporting to the authorities, as disseminating details about fraudulent crypto services reduces the potential victims they can deceive.
• Gather Evidence. Preserve comprehensive evidence by capturing screenshots and saving all pertinent data linked to the deceptive website. Collect the URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials could prove invaluable for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments generally fall outside the scope of refund policies within most banks, it’s worth investigating the potential for a refund in specific circumstances. Maintain optimism until you definitively confirm the loss.
• Convert Mistake into Wisdom. Transform your financial setback into a valuable learning experience. Treat your loss as an investment in understanding the tactics of crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their key characteristics, how they lure individuals, and the grandiose promises they make. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be well-equipped to recognize and avoid falling into future traps without incurring further losses.

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 timeline of the fraud, its masters may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto savings. As we already determined, these deceivers have no intent of restoring your money. So, what do these messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another component of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately installing harmful software onto your system.

Both extensions and attachments included to emails can serve as a carrier for diverse malware. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to give up and aim to maximize revenues.

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