We Investigated Gaplybit: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Gaplybit.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly reveals it is, in truth, a scam site.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Gaplybit.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Gaplybit Scam Overview

Originally, Gaplybit poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use AI-generated 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 blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Gaplybit Scam

To begin with, Gaplybit copies the layout of multiple similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Luxbix, Lykcoin or Microjex. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Probably, all these deceptive online platforms are operated by a single group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Gaplybit Scam Works?

Gaplybit is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another shared 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 initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), scam actors increase the visibility of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users receive an incentive to sign up, drawn by the promise of receiving cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Gaplybit”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Gaplybit, “Start earning with Gaplybit – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially as the gift 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 sign up using your personal information, rascals will not 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 said, scammers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the promised bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Gaplybit, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the credited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When comparing the real 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. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what KYC regulations say, but for the Gaplybit.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal 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 should go through before getting your money back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, 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 Gaplybit.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Gaplybit 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 timeline of the scam, fraudsters may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto funds. As we previously figured out, these rascals have no plan of giving back your money. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing malicious software onto your computer.

Both add-ons and attachments added to email messages can act as a shell for different malicious software. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of little concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to lose and aim to maximize revenues.

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