Investigating Zantua: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Zantua.com site popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly indicates it is, in fact, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Zantua.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Zantua Scam Overview

Originally, Zantua poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use 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 among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Zantua Scam

First and foremost, Zantua repeats the layout of numerous similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Dopcn, Dibitcoin or Folgbit. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are led by the same team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zantua Scam Works?

Zantua is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another shared 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 authenticity 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 mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored promotions (when possible), scam actors intensify the exposure of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters 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 enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get an encouragement to sign up, enticed by the assurance of obtaining crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promos, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Zantua”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zantua, “Start earning with Zantua – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, crooks will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, deceivers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the promised bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, 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

Eventually, any crypto operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of Zantua, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can notice 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

There’s no need to explain that swindlers are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but for the Zantua.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal information, deceivers 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 funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, 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 Zantua.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Zantua often resorts to fake endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. This fraudulent tactic extends to claiming partnerships with reputable companies like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite lacking any genuine affiliations.
• Cryptocurrency-Only Payments. Zantua.com exclusively accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, rejecting traditional bank transfers and other methods. This approach not only masks the company’s identity but also eliminates the possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Information. Zantua raises suspicion by withholding essential ownership, location, and registration details. Furthermore, the absence of legitimate contact information and the recent establishment of domain and social media pages intensify skepticism.
• Unsubstantiated Hype. Zantua.com employs groundless hype tactics, fabricating events like securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. These manipulative techniques aim to instill false confidence and encourage further investments.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme, leveraging a referral system spread through social media. However, only initial participants benefit, often at the expense of subsequent investors.
• Implausible Claims. Promising returns of 50-100-200%, Zantua preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Zantua as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Zantua 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 to Authorities. Your initial action should involve reporting the scam to local authorities responsible for addressing financial fraud. Additionally, reach out to wallet providers and engage with the technical support teams of social networks. This collective effort raises the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Inform Your Inner Circle. Extend your impact by sharing information about the scam with your close friends. Similar to notifying authorities, this dissemination of details curbs the scammers’ potential to deceive.
• Document the Trail. Assemble a comprehensive record by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. This encompasses the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials offer invaluable leads for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments may not typically align with traditional bank refund policies, it’s worthwhile to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain a positive outlook until you secure confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Insight. Shift your focus from the financial loss to gaining wisdom. Consider your loss as an investment in comprehending the tactics employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their distinctive traits, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant pledges they make. This knowledge equips you to recognize and avoid future traps, minimizing the risk of enduring further 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 timeline of the scam, its actors may get in touch with you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no plan of returning your funds. So, what do these email messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly running harmful software onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments included to emails can function as a carrier for various malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always above zero. As noted, their morality is of little concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to lose and strive to maximize revenues.

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