The VENTALOR Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Ventalor.com website popped up, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly reveals it is, actually, a fraudulent platform.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Ventalor.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

VENTALOR Scam Overview

Originally, VENTALOR poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform is partnerships with 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, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

VENTALOR Scam

First and foremost, VENTALOR repeats the appearance of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Vexunax, Vexunox or Saotex. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these fraudulent online platforms are operated by a single group of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the VENTALOR Scam Works?

VENTALOR is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various 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 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 start the fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), scam actors intensify the presence of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips 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 VENTALOR in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to sign up, enticed by the assurance of getting cryptocurrency benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the appeal of the offer, false suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with VENTALOR”, “Your crypto savings are secured with VENTALOR, “Start earning with VENTALOR – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that unlocking the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, frauds 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 for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data 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 crypto purchases, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency operations require you to have funds on your account. In the case of VENTALOR, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent website. 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 deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels are naught on intentions to return your money. But to make it look more realistic, they’ve crafted a whole pack 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 wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed 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 every check will share more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then sold 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 Ventalor.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. VENTALOR 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%, VENTALOR exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying VENTALOR as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. VENTALOR 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. Ventalor.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. VENTALOR 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 VENTALOR 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 duration of the fraud, its actors may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto funds. As we already figured out, these scoundrels have no intent of restoring your capital. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – that is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious programs onto your device.

Both add-ons and attachments attached to emails can function as a carrier for different malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to give up and aim to boost revenues.

Frequently asked questions