We Investigated Usdt-mart: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Usdt-mart.com website popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that clearly indicates it is, actually, a scam site.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Usdt-mart.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Usdt-mart Scam Overview

Originally, Usdt-mart poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, frauds use AI-generated 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 among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Usdt-mart Scam

To begin with, Usdt-mart shares the appearance of numerous similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Welorex, Gowbit or Womnef. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Most likely, all these fraudulent sites are operated by the same group of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Usdt-mart Scam Works?

Usdt-mart is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar 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 sophisticated 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 fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Employing bots and paid ads (when feasible), scam actors boost the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers 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 Usdt-mart in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an incentive to sign up, drawn by the commitment of getting cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To augment the appeal of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Usdt-mart”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Usdt-mart, “Start earning with Usdt-mart – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily move on – especially since the gift 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, rascals 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 mentioned, frauds bait folks into registration for bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency operations require you to have funds on your account. With Usdt-mart, users are also coerced to top up to claim 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 trading on this website hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. 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

There’s no need to explain that scoundrels have 0 intentions to return your money. Though to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal info, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will share 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 Usdt-mart.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Usdt-mart employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, Usdt-mart exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Usdt-mart as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Usdt-mart arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Usdt-mart.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. Usdt-mart utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Usdt-mart 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 masters may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may offer you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we previously determined, these rascals have no plan of restoring your money. So, what can these emails and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another element of the scam designed to throw you into willingly running destructive applications onto your computer.

Both extensions and files included to emails can function as a shell for different malicious software. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As noted, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to lose and intend to boost revenues.

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