We Looked at the Evidence: Is Lonbtc Legit or Scam?

Recently, Lonbtc.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Lonbtc.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Lonbtc Scam Overview

Originally, Lonbtc poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this site is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as 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 glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Lonbtc Scam

To begin with, Lonbtc copies the design of multiple equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Alphaoneexchange, Ownertrader or Dysonalisveris. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are led by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Lonbtc Scam Works?

Lonbtc 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 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 legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign commences. Using bots and paid ads (when feasible), fraud actors intensify the visibility of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Lonbtc”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Lonbtc, “Start earning with Lonbtc – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that obtaining the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep on – especially as the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, swindrels will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require having funds on your account. In the case of Lonbtc, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this website hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on 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 funds 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 it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but in this case they are here only 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will share 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 Lonbtc.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Lonbtc.com insists on cryptocurrency payments exclusively, excluding conventional methods like bank transfers. This strategy ensures anonymity for the scam and eliminates any possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Credentials. Lonbtc arouses suspicion by failing to provide critical information about ownership, location, and legal registration. The lack of valid contact details and the recent creation of domain and social media profiles cast doubt on its legitimacy.
• Baseless Hype Generation. Lonbtc resorts to fabricating non-existent achievements, such as contracts with Coinbase or endorsements from Elon Musk, to manipulate emotions and enhance the perception of potential returns, enticing victims to invest more.
• Fictitious Celebrity Association. Lonbtc employs a deceptive tactic by falsely associating itself with well-known figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, the scam falsely claims partnerships with established entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask to bolster its false credibility.
• Potential Ponzi-Like Model. The scam operates on a pyramid-style referral system disseminated through social media, benefiting only initial participants and relying on later investments to sustain the illusion.
• Unrealistic Profit Promises. Promising improbable returns of 50-100-200%, Lonbtc capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Lonbtc.com as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Lonbtc 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 course of the fraud, its actors may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier determined, these scoundrels have no plan of returning your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another side of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your system.

Both plugins and files attached to email messages can act as a shell for various malicious software. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to lose and intend to maximize gains.

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