We Investigated LegitDogeMining: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Legitdogemining.com website surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably indicates it is, actually, a scam service.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, reliable, and client-friendly service, Legitdogemining.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

LegitDogeMining Scam Overview

Originally, LegitDogeMining poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this service is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds use AI-generated videos where those celebrities 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 a transparent scam.

LegitDogeMining Scam

First and foremost, LegitDogeMining repeats the design of multiple similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Manfec, Minepulse or Arsusdt. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Most likely, all these deceptive online platforms are operated by a single gang of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the LegitDogeMining Scam Works?

LegitDogeMining is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another mutual 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 fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign commences. Employing bots and paid ads (when feasible), scam actors boost the exposure of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos 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 LegitDogeMining in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promotions, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with LegitDogeMining”, “Your crypto savings are secured with LegitDogeMining, “Start earning with LegitDogeMining – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – 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 register using your personal information, frauds will not be able to earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just said, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this data 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 claimed 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 initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have money on your account. With LegitDogeMining, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent 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, however, is where the problems start to surface. When comparing the real 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 capital 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 are naught on intentions to give your money back. But to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout 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 information, scammers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will share 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 Legitdogemining.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with LegitDogeMining 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 scam, its masters may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto savings. As we already determined, these scammers have no plan of returning your funds. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into deliberately running destructive software onto your system.

Both extensions and files added to email messages can serve as a shell for various malware. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As stated, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to give up and strive to boost revenues.

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