Don’t Fall for this Twitter Crypto Scam!

Last updated on May 8th, 2024 at 11:44 pm

Word "scam" in front of phones transferring coins with bitcoin symbol on.
Photo ID: 508078710 © Hoowy/DepositPhotos.com

Despite Musk’s claims to the contrary, Twitter is still full of scams. Crypto scams, in particular, are rampant on the platform. In this post, I’ll explain one I came across recently so you’ll be able to avoid it. You can also watch this one-minute video I made for a quick overview:

The scam

Tweets promoting this scam share a “referral code” for a new cryptocurrency exchange. All you need to do is enter the code and you could get up to 10 free ETH! The tweets even include screenshots to show how it all works. 

Azuki (@0xZaynAndres)
Hi guys.
I found a code that can give you up to 10 ETH. Use this before it is fixed. I can get more than 6.5 ETH!
Promo code: fx2r972t
site: redacted
Screenshot of a scam tweet from a fake Azuki account. The account has since been suspended.

What these tweets don’t show you is that if you try to withdraw the ETH, you’ll be asked to pay an “activation fee” of 0.005 BTC. This is a classic scam move and if you do it, you’ll be sending money directly to the scammers’ pockets.

How do I know this? Because people who fell for the scam left comments about it, in some cases not realizing they would be unable to withdraw their crypto even if they paid the “activation fee.” The scammers then hid those comments under the “hidden replies” section, clearly not wanting other people to realize how the scam worked.

One user even reported being charged $93 worth of Bitcoin to withdraw their free ETH, only to find they still couldn’t withdraw anything.

Withdrawal error
To withdraw funds to a third-party address, you need to activate your account. To activate the account, make a minimum deposit of 0.005 BTC. The deposit can also be withdrawn after account activation. If you have questions or need help, contact the support chat or create a ticket.
This is the message one user encountered when they redeemed the code and tried to withdraw their free crypto. Source: JuliajohnC

The scam sites 

Redacted is the cryptocurrency exchange platform that makes digital currency operations easy and affordable for everyone. Easy to use.
This is how both of the fake crypto exchanges look in Google Search.

I’ve seen two fake crypto exchanges promoted in these kinds of tweets. They look identical to each other, using the same imagery and copy on their homepage. 

The domains for both sites were also registered on the same day, July 3rd 2023, with the same domain registrar, Tucows Domains Inc. Plus, both domains have the same two Cloudflare nameservers, which makes it likely they belong to a single Cloudflare account.

All this suggests the two scam sites are being run by the same people.

Twitter accounts promoting the scam

The scammers used a variety of different accounts to promote the scam. Some accounts impersonated big web 3 names, like Azuki, to trick people into thinking the scam was legitimate.

These were relatively easy to spot, however. For example, one fake Azuki account promoting this scam had the handle @0xZaynAndres, which has nothing to do with Azuki, and had only 70 followers. It has since been suspended.

More concerning is that some accounts with thousands of followers were promoting the scam, presumably because they had been hacked. One account, @purpleapeeth, had 58.5k followers, with one scam tweet receiving over 315k impressions!

PuprpleApe.eth (@purpleapeeth)
Hi broo.
I found a code that can give you up to 10 ETH. Use this before it is fixed.
I can get more than 6.49 ETH!

Promo Code: 68z88cnh
Site: redacted
This scam tweet had over 315k views at the time of writing. Source: PuprpleApe.eth

Many other accounts were also used to support the scam and make it look more legitimate. For example, @purpleapeeth’s scam tweets had tens of thousands of retweets, many of which were from accounts tagging other people and encouraging them to fall for the scam.

The replies to the scam tweets also featured accounts thanking the original poster, presumably to offer fake social proof the scam was genuine.

How to avoid scams like this

The old saying “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is” applies here. There’s no good reason a cryptocurrency exchange would give away up to 10 ETH (approximately $18.5k) per customer. So be incredibly suspicious of anything that claims to be giving away free money.

Domain: Redacted
Registrar: Tucows Domains Inc
Registered: 3rd July 2023 [4 days back]
Updated: 3rd July 2023 [4 days back]
Expiry: 3rd July 2024
Look for the registration date for a domain. If it’s been registered recently, be extra suspicious. Source: whoxy.

The domains of the fake crypto exchanges provide another red flag: they were just days old when the scam tweets started appearing. You can find out when a domain was registered by doing a Whois lookup at whoxy.com or another similar site. In general, be very suspicious of newly registered domains because they are often used for scams.

Finally, if you are asked to pay some kind of fee to withdraw funds from a crypto exchange, you’re likely caught up in a scam. After all, why couldn’t any such fees be deducted from the funds you want to withdraw instead?

The takeaway

Crypto scams are frustratingly common on Twitter. But you can protect yourself by being cautious and looking out for red flags!

Update July 8th 2:30am

PuprpleApe.eth (@purpleapeeth)
An incredible crypto gift from 
@ElonMusk
  
Promo code 68z88cnh for 6.5 ETH  
redacted
The latest approach was to use a deep fake of Elon Musk endorsing the scam. Source: PuprpleApe.eth

The @purpleapeeth account is now promoting another fake crypto exchange. This time, the tweet includes what appears to be a deep fake video of Elon Musk endorsing the scam.  Stay safe out there!

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