We Investigated Vitalplatform.online: Legit or Scam?

Recently, Vitalplatform.online service appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible proof that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a scam site.

Despite what Vitalplatform site says, they won’t refund your capital. Despite the money displayed in the “member area”, there is zero means to take out even a single coin. All pledges regarding crypto incentives are baseless as well.

Vitalplatform Scam Overview

The key offering that Vitalplatform attempts to provide is a safe and convenient cryptocurrency wallet service. The site pledges crypto exchange services, tools for managing wallets, transfers, dashboards, and the like. In reality, they aim to emulate the functionality of a crypto trading platform, like Binance or Coinbase. However, it in actuality exclusively serves as a shell needed to lull the vigilance.

Vitalplatform Scam

To begin with, Vitalplatform imitates the design of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Binancemargin, Evotronx or Poloniexmax. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive websites are operated by a single team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Vitalplatform Scam Works?

Vitalplatform is yet another webpage within a vast network of interconnected crypto fraudulent platforms. The administrators employ diverse brand names and websites, like Vitalplatform.online, to ensnare victims. Nevertheless, these fraudulent websites share matching designs, terms of service, and About content. This reveals their sources as components of the equal fraudulent network, which promotes the same type of scam under various appearances. The scammers merely duplicate the identical deceptive site under various names to deceive users into thinking they are joining a fresh venture. However, in actuality, it’s the same system of fraudsters orchestrating the fraudulent commitments and undertakings to take deposited money. The managers cleverly employ psychological tactics and appealing offers to implement their deceitful schemes.

Step 1: Spreading

To initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Employing bots and paid promotions (when feasible), scam actors increase the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. This strategy permits them to create a wide net and connect with their aimed viewers. The latter usually comprises of cryptocurrency fans searching for prospects to generate profits.

Users receive a stimulus to sign up, enticed by the promise of obtaining crypto benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Users who express interest check out Vitalplatform.online via links included in promotions or robotic posts. The site employs captivating visuals, design elements that appear genuine, and claims of possessing a official license, all designed to project an initial image of reliability.

Step 3: Data Gathering

To claim their rewards, users need to actively create an account on Vitalplatform and receive prompts to submit sensitive and private data during the registration process. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, sharing email addresses, supplying phone numbers, sending in identification papers, and the like.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Once signed up, users notice significant amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at hundreds of dollars, within their Vitalplatform wallets. Nevertheless, as it usually happens with such rewards, you are unable to withdraw them prior to topping up your account. Typically, a deposit of $100 is required to access the sign-up bonus. This prerequisite serves as the enticement that eventually leads to the money loss.

Step 5: Disappear

The moment the payment is sent, the fraudsters terminate all interaction. They go ahead to block users, erase accounts, and disappear with both the transferred funds and vital individual details. The fictitious benefits persist perpetually uncredited, as they lack actual existence. They act purely as a deceptive strategy. This approach forms the foundation for the deceivers’ capability to deceive victims and embezzle hard-earned earnings through their deceptive internet-based crypto fraud.

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Vitalplatform.online. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Vitalplatform 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 timeline of the scam, fraudsters may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier figured out, these deceivers have no intent of giving back your money. So, what can these emails and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing malicious applications onto your computer.

Both extensions and files added to email messages can function as a shell for various malware. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As stated, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have no scruples to lose and strive to maximize revenues.

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Trojan Killer for “spyware” removal on locked PC

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Trojan Killer is a valuable tool in your cybersecurity arsenal, helping you to effectively remove malware from infected computers. Now, we will walk you through the process of using Trojan Killer from a USB flash drive to scan and remove malware on an infected PC. Remember, always obtain permission to scan and remove malware from a computer that you do not own.

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7. Safely eject the USB flash drive from the clean computer.

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