The Truth About Venluna: Legit or Scam? Our Review

Recently, Venluna.com site popped up, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably confirms it is, in truth, a fraudulent site.

Despite the promises of the most easy, dependable, and client-friendly service, Venluna.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and never gives them back. Any stories about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Venluna Scam Overview

Originally, Venluna poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this platform is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as 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 an obvious scam.

Venluna Scam

To begin with, Venluna shares the design of multiple similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Trumpgivex, Cryptbax or Galcrypx. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Most likely, all these scam online platforms are operated by the same gang of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Venluna Scam Works?

Venluna is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous 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 complex 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 scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Using bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), fraud actors boost the presence of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away 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 registers the service immediately.

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

Users receive an encouragement to enroll, drawn by the commitment of obtaining cryptocurrency prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To augment the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Venluna”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Venluna, “Start earning with Venluna – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily proceed – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, swindrels will not earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this information 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 promised 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

Eventually, any crypto purchases require having funds on your account. In the case of Venluna, users are also coerced to top up to get 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 site hoping to use all the credited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to return your money. But to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but for the Venluna.com they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal data, 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 should go through before getting your money back. And each of these checks 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 Venluna.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Venluna 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 fraud, rascals may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously determined, these scammers have no intention of restoring your money. So, what can these email messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running destructive programs onto your device.

Both plugins and files attached to email messages can serve as a shell for different malware. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As stated, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to lose and aim to boost gains.

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