(Cryptogaint Ltd. is a scam - Don't invest!) Chat with a Scammer! - Part 2

in #scam4 years ago

Some days ago, I posted Part 1 of my experience being pitched by a scammer. In that Part, it showed the interesting conversation that Paul and I had concerning an investment that he had in mind.

However, today, I'll put back my calm and sensible hat on, as we dive a bit deeper to analyse some of the information that Paul had sent concerning an investment by Cryptogaint Ltd.

Spoiler Alert! (or TLDR;) for if you misread the title : I've concluded that Cryptogaint is very likely operating as a fraudulent company, so I've placed some RED FLAGS for things to look out for.


Analysis of Cryptogaint (Crypto Gaint) Ltd.

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If you've read Part 1, you may recall my confusion, as Paul had pitched me different investments in one singular conversation without making any differentiation between them.

Nevertheless, the first investment that he had pitched me was by an investment firm, known as Cryptogaint Ltd. (Note: the company's own website shows both Cryptogaint and Crypto Gaint - observe the spacing).

Now, during the conversation, Paul hadn't sent me the link to Cryptogaint's website, but a quick Google of "cryptogaint " showed me a website with a similar name, and the word "investment" in the headline, so I clicked on it.

The brief scroll, down Cryptogaint's website presented me some of the investment plans up front, and center. Some of the investment plans on the website differed slightly from Paul's message.

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There's even a handy little Profit Calculator to see how much you can earn from each of the plans.

The stated returns here include your deposit. So, rather than quoting 15% returns like most investment platforms, they quote 115% to make it look a lot more attractive.

RED FLAG: The investment returns are obscenely high - considering that the company has not published a whitepaper, or at least showing how they're able to make these profits consistently. This is somewhat akin to a Ponzi scheme, in my experience.

One interesting information; Paul told me in our conversation that he offered me 3% ROI in 24 hours, and that these other plans you see on the website (above) was not available to beginners.

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Despite Paul quoting that, the "FAQs page" itself makes it clear that anyone can join in, though I wouldn't recommend anyone doing so.

Another question that I had asked Paul, was concerning Cryptogaint's country of operations. My reasoning for asking this simple questions was to judge the nature of the company's regulatory scope, and also just to see if Paul was, or wasn't talking bollocks.

From Part 1, Paul claims that Cryptogaint is based in Geneva, Switzerland. However, the website actually shows that the company is in fact addressed, and registered in the UK.

RED FLAG: The email shown there isn't an actual email. In fact, it doesn't work. The other way to contact them was through a submitting a form on the "Contact Us" page, and they've not yet replied to me after 5 days. I have only successfully been able to contact them through their tawk.to integrated live chat (bottom right of their webpage); but even here, it is reminiscent to a conversation with Paul again - total ineptitude.

Now that we've gone back to compare some of Paul's conversations with me, I'll take you to analysing Cryptogaint itself, and whether an investment with them is a sound idea. You can also check out their website for yourself to see what's what.

Firstly, let's take a look at what Cryptogaint has to say about itself. Their front page has quick introduction to Cryptogaint and what they do. Moreover, they also have sections for an affiliate programme and referral competition.

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They even show some statistics into the company itself. I have only been actively looking into Cryptogaint the past few days, so I cannot verify their 188 "Running Days" claim. Also, despite refreshing their website every once in a while, even during peak hours and weekends; there doesn't seem to be that many "Visitors Online", and I've seen at most 2. Though at least they're transparent about it.

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Some of the advantages for using Cryptogaint. I guess it won't take much to find out that these aren't actually advantages. Why should being a "Registered Company" considered an advantage?

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Cryptogaint also boasts that they have deposit insurance (more of that in a moment)

RED FLAG: Cryptogaint is very ambiguous about explaining their own platform. They didn't explain clearly as to what type of investments they carry out. Furthermore, they don't really have much positives to say about their company, as is clear with the "Advantages" section, and clearly showing that they've not much to offer.


The Final Nail(s) in the Coffin.

Now, there are 2 key details about Cryptogaint's legal/regulatory information that I would like to bring to your attention; which quickly unravels their company to be a scam.

Apart from the RED FLAGS that I stated above, these 2 are the real deal breakers.

  1. Cryptogaint isn't very clear about their company, and who controls it. Neither the "About Us", nor any other page on their website makes it clear as to who's driving the bus. Thus, Cryptogaint isn't willing to be transparent about their inner workings.

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    On their main page, they claim to be registered as Bit Vertigo Ltd.

    Indeed, when clicking the "View Certificate" button, it takes us to the UK's Companies House Registry for Bit Vertigo Ltd., with the correct address as in the webpage.

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    However, when navigating to the "About Us" page, and clicking on the "Verify Certificate" button (as shown below), it takes us to a Companies House Registry for a different company.

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    Here, it links to a company called Crypto MX Limited. It's worth noting the "Nature of business" for the 2 companies. Where Bit Vertigo was registered for "Fund management activities", Crypto MX Limited is registered for "Banks".

    I then tried the Live Chat tool on their webpage to ask for the difference between Bit Vertigo and Crypto MX.

    However, the customer support staff claimed that there is no Crypto MX. Despite my efforts to make it clear to "Amaya" that Cryptogaint's website links to both companies, she didn't respond to me after 15 minutes.

    Another interesting find was on their "FAQs" page. On the very first question, there is a link to the "Certificate of Incorporation " for Cryptogaint Ltd.

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    However, clicking on that link would result in a 404: Page not Found error where the Certificate should've gone.

  2. Cryptogaint is making false and misleading claims on their website. The details concerning their investors insurance coverage, as was discussed earlier, appears to be falsified.

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    Cryptogaint claims on their main page that they're insured with the FDIC, which aims to cover investors for losses.

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    However, on their Terms page, they clearly state an opposing fact (as highlighted) - …We are not FDIC insured…

    When clicking "View Certificate ", it shows an insurance certificate stating that they're covered up to 5 million euros, underwritten by Renaissance Insurance.

    The "Insured" here seems to be Bit Vertigo Ltd. - a supposed parent company to Cryptogaint Ltd., and no mention here of Crypto MX Limited.

    This seems very legitimate at first; until I made contact with Renaissance Insurance to confirm the legitimacy of this document. One of Renaissance's brokers replied to my email inquiry promptly.

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    They made it clear that neither company is insured by them, and the certificate itself is not real. This means that Cryptogaint's insurance statement is faked, and Renaissance has become a victim of their fraudulent schemes.

    It would seem as well that Renaissance is trying to make contact with Bit Vertigo and Cryptogaint, but without success. I have also tried to offer my help, by providing more details about Paul. Since I too didn't have success contacting Cryptogaint through either email, contact form, or phone, there's unfortunately very little that I can do to assist Renaissance.

    Note: Renaissance has not yet updated me on their investigation into Bit Vertigo and Cryptogaint. I will keep you posted in the comments if anything pops up.


    So, is Cryptogaint truly a scam?

    The answer is YES. There are too many red flags to ignore, and several incidences that show the company itself to be misleading.

    Needless to say, I won't be investing any time soon. And certainly, I would advise you to stay away, and invest your hard-earned money elsewhere!

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    If you'd gamble on investing with Cryptogaint anyways, there's not saying as to when, or even if they'll pay you. They're operating as a fraudulent company, and their investments have no basis under them. It's possible that they're simply operating as a Ponzi scheme.

    I have in the past, seen many people fall victims to investment scams themselves, and I've seen people's lives ruined because of them. Thus, I felt only responsible to shed more light on fraudulent schemes like Cryptogaint.

    I do hope that, by sharing my findings here on Steemit, I could help by informing you on what to look for when you encounter another investment scheme/platform/company in the future.

    Also, since this wasn't the only investment that Paul pitched to me, there will be a Part 3 coming soon!

    Thanks for reading, fellow reader! Share with me your thoughts on my post, and whether you've had similar experiences with scams before. Follow me @zacknorman97 for Part 3 and more.

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