Bitstil Crypto (bitstil-crypto.com): An Investigation
Author: Cybersafe Foundation
Recently we received a complaint about a website Bitstill Crypto (bitstil-crypto.com). Bitstil Crypto claims to be a cloud mining platform asking users to “Invest any amount to participate in profits from Cryptocurrency Mining.”
Our first stop was the about page where we performed a reverse image search of the CEO’s photo.
It showed the images were used on two other websites.
The websites were:
1) https://blog.followjulian.com/wall-street-mine-review-looks-like-a-quick-scam/
2) https://heritageinvest.ltd/?a=cust&page=aboutus
The first link was a post about a Ponzi mining scam wallstreetmine.com that had earlier gone by the name promine.co and duped many investors. The second, heritageinvest.ltd, also has the same CEO pictures as the already listed websites. Googling the contact number +44 2033184540 listed on both wallstreetmine.com and heritageinvest.ltd, we were able to discover other websites with similar features and the same phone number, below is a list:
Also, an examination of the source code on bitstil-crypto revealed a connection to two other domains, capital-traders.ltd and coin-pay.org
Some of the websites above had outright fake certificates of incorporation, while others used the certificates for known UK companies. The modus operandi of these fraudsters was to go to the online portal of Companies House (United Kingdom’s registrar of companies), obtain incorporation certificates of legitimate companies then buy domains that closely mirror the company names. This was done to make the schemes appear legitimate.
During our analysis, we also found connections to 3 social media profiles.
The First social media profile linked to this scheme was found while looking at the promine.co twitter page. The @Promine_co account has @heatstreak_2012 as one of the people it follows.
This account had several tweets promoting the fraudulent Pro Mine Limited. The Twitter profile of @heatstreak_2012 had a link to its Telegram channel. The telegram channel had a warning that several users had reported the account as a scam.
Looking at posts made in the telegram channel, we found it was dedicated to the promotion of fake investment schemes.
The second social media profile was discovered from neovest.ir
A whois search of the domain revealed the name, Amir AliYar, which upon further searching led to a Twitter and an Instagram account.
The third social media account was discovered while doing a Google search using the number +44 2033184540 from the websites above. This led to a google web cache of a profile on vk.com called Anatoly Nenakhov
Of the three social media profiles, the Instagram and Twitter account of persian.forex is the strongest link to the bitstil crypto scam.
Moving on, our complainant provided a wallet address of which the crooks behind Bitstil Crypto used to collect bitcoin from him. Plugging the address 1Q1orCkg5FY4U74uVKDjZZqdLpnmXGD2DN into Bitcoin who's who we got the details below:
This address has a “Last known Output” that leads to the bitcoin address 1AHwdvrkv7Tc33BFrhTiTpwHeQb6rrRsH6 that was flagged as being involved in a scam. The scam report listed the website coinsmatt.com which was hosted on Namecheap but has since been suspended.
This address in turn had five repeated outputs to 17UciCr45kQB9KcNHxeKHhkpr3jkuLGjJg
Then this address had ten repeated outputs to the address 1NDyJtNTjmwk5xPNhjgAMu4HDHigtobu1s, which is Binance’s hot wallet. Binance allows users to withdraw up to 2 BTC without going through a strict KYC/AML process, so these fraudsters were funneling the funds through it.
In conclusion, the major learnings points are don’t trust an investment scheme because it claims to be incorporated. Do further research to verify if their claims are legitimate. High interest with little or no risk is always a sure sign that you might be dealing with a scam.
This article was published on July 19, 2021 by Cybersafe Foundation.
Report a Scam!
Have you fallen for a hoax, bought a fake product? Report the site and warn others!
Scam Categories
Help & Info
Popular Stories
As the influence of the internet rises, so does the prevalence of online scams. There are fraudsters making all kinds of claims to trap victims online - from fake investment opportunities to online stores - and the internet allows them to operate from any part of the world with anonymity. The ability to spot online scams is an important skill to have as the virtual world is increasingly becoming a part of every facet of our lives. The below tips will help you identify the signs which can indicate that a website could be a scam. Common Sense: Too Good To Be True When looking for goods online, a great deal can be very enticing. A Gucci bag or a new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t want to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to take advantage of the fact. If an online deal looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The easiest way to do this is to simply check out the same product at competing websites (that you trust). If the difference in prices is huge, it might be better to double-check the rest of the website. Check Out the Social Media Links Social media is a core part of ecommerce businesses these days and consumers often expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media sites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this fu
So the worst has come to pass - you realise you parted with your money too fast, and the site you used was a scam - what now? Well first of all, don’t despair!! If you think you have been scammed, the first port of call when having an issue is to simply ask for a refund. This is the first and easiest step to determine whether you are dealing with a genuine company or scammers. Sadly, getting your money back from a scammer is not as simple as just asking. If you are indeed dealing with scammers, the procedure (and chance) of getting your money back varies depending on the payment method you used. PayPal Debit card/Credit card Bank transfer Wire transfer Google Pay Bitcoin PayPal If you used PayPal, you have a strong chance of getting your money back if you were scammed. On their website, you can file a dispute within 180 calendar days of your purchase. Conditions to file a dispute: The simplest situation is that you ordered from an online store and it has not arrived. In this case this is what PayPal states: "If your order never shows up and the seller can't provide proof of shipment or delivery, you'll get a full refund. It's that simple." The scammer has sent you a completely different item. For example, you ordered a PlayStation 4, but instead received only a Playstation controller. The condition of the item was misrepresented on the product page. This could be the