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

Recently, Seleru.com website popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly indicates it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, dependable, and customer-centric service, Seleru.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Seleru Scam Overview

Originally, Seleru poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs 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 mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Seleru Scam

Initially, Seleru shares the design of many similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Waflub, Bitxmust or Yembit. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these scam sites are led by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Seleru Scam Works?

Seleru is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers 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 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 start the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), scam actors increase the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Seleru”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Seleru, “Start earning with Seleru – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced 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 info, crooks will not be able to earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, frauds bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Seleru, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can notice 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 scoundrels have 0 intentions to return your money. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal info, 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Seleru.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Seleru 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 course of the fraud, rascals may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto funds. As we previously figured out, these scammers have no intent of restoring your funds. So, what can these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another element of the scam designed to throw you into willingly installing harmful software onto your device.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can act as a carrier for various malicious software. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of no concern, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and intend to boost revenues.

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