We Investigated Gacamo: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Gacamo.com service popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that unmistakably reveals it is, in fact, a scam service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Gacamo.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your funds and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Gacamo Scam Overview

Originally, Gacamo poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, con actors employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Gacamo Scam

To begin with, Gacamo shares the design of multiple equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Gutans, Punars or Doront. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these scam online platforms are managed by a single group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Gacamo Scam Works?

Gacamo is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same 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 advanced 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 begin the fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and paid advertisements (when possible), scam actors increase the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise 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 Gacamo in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an incentive to enroll, drawn by the assurance of receiving crypto rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To augment the appeal 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 following the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Gacamo”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Gacamo, “Start earning with Gacamo – 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 since nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, rascals 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 for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely 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 for withdrawal 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. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require having capital on your account. With Gacamo, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. 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 retrieve the capital 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. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, scammers 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 grand back. And every check will share 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 Gacamo.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Gacamo 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 actors may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto assets. As we already determined, these rascals have no intention of restoring your capital. So, what do these email messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive software onto your computer.

Both add-ons and attachments added to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malware. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and intend to maximize profits.

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