The Tonsgift Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Tonsgift.com service popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly confirms it is, actually, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Tonsgift.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Tonsgift Scam Overview

Originally, Tonsgift poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this service 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, frauds 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 blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Tonsgift Scam

First and foremost, Tonsgift shares the appearance of many equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Mivrex, Cetbit or Bitfuex. They are entirely indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Probably, all these scam websites are managed by a single gang of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Tonsgift Scam Works?

Tonsgift is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To begin the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Utilizing bots and paid promotions (when achievable), fraud actors increase the exposure of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promos, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Tonsgift”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Tonsgift, “Start earning with Tonsgift – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious 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 skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal information, frauds will not be able to earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, scammers bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the claimed bonus right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, 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 operations require having money on your account. In the case of Tonsgift, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged 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 victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the money 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 have no intentions to give your money back. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal info, frauds 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 reveal more and more info of yours, 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 Tonsgift.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Tonsgift 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 course of the fraud, its actors may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously determined, these rascals have no plan of returning your capital. So, what do these messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately installing harmful applications onto your computer.

Both plugins and files included to email messages can act as a shell for various malware. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always significant. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to lose and intend to maximize profits.

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