Investigating GB-AI: Legit or Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Hhmzbg.com site popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, actually, a scam platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Hhmzbg.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your funds and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

GB-AI Scam Overview

Originally, GB-AI poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this platform is backing from 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 more realistic, rascals use 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 choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

GB-AI Scam

To begin with, GB-AI repeats the appearance of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Equat, Dexanur or Dexarim. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these scam websites are operated by the same team of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the GB-AI Scam Works?

GB-AI is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use numerous 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 advanced 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 set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and paid promotions (when achievable), scam actors boost the exposure of their scam activities to possible 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 GB-AI in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain a stimulus to register, drawn by the promise of obtaining cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, users end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with GB-AI”, “Your crypto savings are secured with GB-AI, “Start earning with GB-AI – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware 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 skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, 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, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised 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 equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have money on your account. In the case of GB-AI, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the money flow to this scam site. 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 capital and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels are naught on intentions to give your money back. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC regulations say, but for the Hhmzbg.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And every check will uncover more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then sold 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 Hhmzbg.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. GB-AI 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 GB-AI 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 GB-AI, 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 GB-AI is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with GB-AI 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.

• Immediate Reporting. Your initial step should involve promptly notifying local authorities specializing in financial fraud. Extend your reach by reaching out to wallet providers and engaging with social networks’ technical support teams. These actions serve to raise the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Share among Friends. Amplify your efforts by informing your close friends about the scam. Similar to informing authorities, this dissemination of information restricts the scammers’ potential victim pool.
• Preserve Crucial Information. Compile a comprehensive evidence archive by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. Collect the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These records could provide vital clues for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Exploring Refund Options. While most banks’ refund policies may exclude cryptocurrency payments, it’s advisable to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain hope until you obtain confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Knowledge. Turn your financial setback into an opportunity for growth. View your loss as an investment in understanding the strategies employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their telltale characteristics, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant promises they make. Equipped with this insight, you’ll be well-prepared to spot and evade future traps without suffering additional 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 fraud, scoundrels may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto savings. As we previously determined, these deceivers have no intent of returning your money. So, what can these emails and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly running malicious software onto your computer.

Both plugins and files attached to email messages can function as a carrier for various malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As noted, their conscience is of little concern, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to lose and strive to maximize revenues.

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