Investigating WISTEIA: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Wisteia.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a deceptive service.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, dependable, and customer-centric service, Wisteia.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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WISTEIA Scam Overview

Originally, WISTEIA poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds employ 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 among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

WISTEIA Scam

Initially, WISTEIA repeats the design of multiple similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Wynorx, Zexelon or Hengate. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these deceptive sites are operated by a single team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the WISTEIA Scam Works?

WISTEIA is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the identical 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Using bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors increase the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips 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 joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to sign up, attracted by the assurance of receiving crypto rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with WISTEIA”, “Your crypto savings are secured with WISTEIA, “Start earning with WISTEIA – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that getting the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, crooks 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, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

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

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto purchases require having money on your account. With WISTEIA, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the capital 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. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout 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 data, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you would desperately need to undergo 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 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 Wisteia.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. WISTEIA 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%, WISTEIA exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying WISTEIA as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. WISTEIA 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. Wisteia.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. WISTEIA 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 WISTEIA 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, rascals may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no intention of giving back your capital. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately installing harmful software onto your system.

Both extensions and files attached to email messages can act as a shell for diverse malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to lose and aim to boost profits.

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