We Investigated Onegotia: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Onegotia.com site surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible proof that clearly indicates it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

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

Onegotia Scam Overview

Originally, Onegotia poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is backing from celebrities that are known in 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, rascals use AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the scam as the best thing in the world. For obvious 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.

Onegotia Scam

To begin with, Onegotia copies the design of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Petidbit, Kodronot or 12xtrades. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive online platforms are operated by the same gang of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Onegotia Scam Works?

Onegotia is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar 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 sophisticated 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 deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Utilizing bots and paid promotions (when achievable), scam actors boost the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebs 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 Onegotia in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Onegotia”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Onegotia, “Start earning with Onegotia – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that unlocking the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal data, crooks will not be able to 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 said, frauds bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available to use right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require having capital on your account. With Onegotia, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash 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 engaging on this site hoping to use all the transferred funds and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels have zero intentions to return your money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but for the Onegotia.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Onegotia.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Onegotia.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. Onegotia 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. Onegotia 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. Onegotia 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%, Onegotia capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Onegotia.com as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Onegotia 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 the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

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, rascals 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 previously determined, these scammers have no intent of returning your funds. So, what can these messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another element of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately installing harmful programs onto your computer.

Both add-ons and files included to email messages can act as a shell for various malicious software. In this case, I expect 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 greater than zero. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to give up and strive to boost revenues.

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