Investigating PAEBIRU: Legit or Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Paebiru.com site surfaced, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Paebiru.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

PAEBIRU Scam Overview

Originally, PAEBIRU poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

PAEBIRU Scam

To begin with, PAEBIRU copies the design of numerous similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Loulos, Frandex or Brensad. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these scam websites are operated by the same group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the PAEBIRU Scam Works?

PAEBIRU is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the identical 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 complex 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 initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Using bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), fraud actors increase the presence of their deceptive 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, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promos, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with PAEBIRU”, “Your crypto savings are secured with PAEBIRU, “Start earning with PAEBIRU – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that obtaining the promoted bonus requires registration. And as 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, 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 mentioned, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus 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 begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto purchases require having capital on your account. With PAEBIRU, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on 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 pull out the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, deceivers 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 every check will share 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 Paebiru.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. PAEBIRU often resorts to fake endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. This fraudulent tactic extends to claiming partnerships with reputable companies like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite lacking any genuine affiliations.
• Cryptocurrency-Only Payments. Paebiru.com exclusively accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, rejecting traditional bank transfers and other methods. This approach not only masks the company’s identity but also eliminates the possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Information. PAEBIRU raises suspicion by withholding essential ownership, location, and registration details. Furthermore, the absence of legitimate contact information and the recent establishment of domain and social media pages intensify skepticism.
• Unsubstantiated Hype. Paebiru.com employs groundless hype tactics, fabricating events like securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. These manipulative techniques aim to instill false confidence and encourage further investments.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme, leveraging a referral system spread through social media. However, only initial participants benefit, often at the expense of subsequent investors.
• Implausible Claims. Promising returns of 50-100-200%, PAEBIRU preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling PAEBIRU as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with PAEBIRU 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 duration of the scam, fraudsters may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we already figured out, these rascals have no plan of restoring your funds. So, what can these emails and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another side of the scam designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive programs onto your device.

Both add-ons and attachments attached to email messages can function as a carrier for various malware. In this scenario, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always significant. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to give up and aim to boost profits.

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