Fake Liquidity Mining Scams

Notice: This page is a freshly imported case study from the original repository. The original content was in a different format, and may not have relevant information for all sections. Please help restructure the content by moving information from the 'About' section to other sections, and add any missing information or sources you can find. If you are new here, please read General Tutorial on Wikis or Anatomy of a Case Study for help getting started.

Notice: This page contains sources which are not attributed to any text. The unattributed sources follow the initial description. Please assist by visiting each source, reviewing the content, and placing that reference next to any text it can be used to support. Feel free to add any information that you come across which isn't present already. Sources which don't contain any relevant information can be removed. Broken links can be replaced with versions from the Internet Archive. See General Tutorial on Wikis, Anatomy of a Case Study, and/or Citing Your Sources Guide for additional information. Thanks for your help!

Various

Various fake website have been set up which claim to offer a liquidity mining service. Users will click a button "Receive" which authorizes a smart contract with spend access to their funds. In many wallets such as the CoinBase wallet, details of the transaction are not even provided to users. Scammers will sometimes give a small amount of payment to the users, hoping they will add more funds. After some time, all user funds in their wallet are taken. If the scammers are contacted, they will inform users that they need to deposit more funds to retrieve the funds and resume earning the interest. Obviously, there is no way to get the funds back. Coinbase often tells users who have fallen victim to this scam that their private keys must have been compromised, which is not what happened.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About Various

"My brother-in-law showed me his Coinbase Wallet a few weeks ago where he joined a mining pool and they were giving out Ethereum every day. He is also a Coinbase user so he showed me the Coinbase app to get too."

"I was new to cryptos, so I installed both apps from the Google Play Store to my Android phone and started my journey."

"The "mining pool" I joined is a DApp with the address u2e-free.com. This address is only accessible using a DApp browser inside the wallet (or with a wallet browser extension that I found out later)."

"I was totally confident with Coinbase Wallet's reputation, ignoring the suspicion of the unrealistic high profit. I believed that as long as money stays in my safe Coinbase Wallet and no one else knows my recovery phrase, it cannot be taken out without my approval."

"Initial I have around 60 usd in my wallet...then I chinese girl told me ..that there was a system that can earn passive incomes.. so she give me this address coinbasewallet.club , also she told me that I have to deposit 80 usd eth for the mining node, and 600 usdt to start mining."

"coinbasepool.net | coins-wallet.com | cbeth.io | coinbase00111.zone | eth2-usdt.com | defi.defi-usd.com | defi-usdteth.com | eth-base.org | et-event.co | usdtdefi.io | ustddefi.io | hydefieco.com | eth-pam.co | df-ethe.org | unidefi.me | cb-titan.com | cb-titan.me | p2p-eth.com | ethu2e.com | eth-pool.info | defi.usdt-defi.net | coinbasewallet.club | eth-base.io | defi.yby-etoro.com | ethusdt.buzz | tether-ether.com | defi.df-ethe.vip | eth-seal.vip | wealth-coin.net | defi.cb-ant.net | eth-prime.co | eth-base.biz | ethcoinb.net | allianceex.net | usdc-shop.com | eth-fossa.club | ethliquidmining9.com | nodeminer.vip | defi.defi-usd.net | usdt-pool.me" "eth-coin.vip eth-coin.info metaverss.co" "eth-coinwallet.net" "leagues.vip, ethusdt.club, eth-fun.com, smartmine.info (unverified), eth-nano.net" "eth-miner.org" "coinbasewallet.club" "Ethereum-tkn.com" "ETH-coin.mobi" "ethreum.vip" "aaveeth.co" "Integra.gold" "Eth-asic.net" "eth-nano.life" "antenjoy.vip" "eth-usdt.info" "u2e-free.com | u2e-free.net" "Tron.ac" "ETH-Vitrum" "lianfaex.com" "defi.cw-eth.net" "hydefieco.com" "defi.df-com.cc" "finacai.com | defi-lp.org" "cbeth.io, cbeth.net, cbeth.org, cbeth.vip" "eth-defi13.com" "Eth-coin.info" "Sushi-defi.com" "defimoney.info" "coin-ethgo.co" "Tether-ether.io" "stareth.co" "vip.innovationusdt.one" "tetherminning.com" "usdt-ether.cc" "ethoxt.com" "worldwallet.shop" "usdt-paypal.net"

"Once you receive the “node” that’s when you gave access to your wallet and you have been compromised."

"Hi - I just became victim to the scam and I lost over $100,000 taken out of my Coinbase Wallet. Coinbase has zero protection as you all know and I need to find out which law firm we can contact or cyber forensics to help?"

"I deposit both quantities and join the node (26.11.2021) It charges around 20 usd eth. Each day I was getting earnings around 1.4 % daily."

"After 4 days on 30.11.2021...some button appears in the system of coinbasewallet.club , only says APPLY for some rewards, and do not say anything that I have to deposit 50k. (That was the smart contract thing)"

"So For my ignorance.. I clic that button and the funds that I have got around 650 usd.. all gone to that."

"Then the chinese girl said to me that I have to deposit more money, she was so insistent...to complete the 50000 usd..and get the 5 eth reward...but I did not fund in that moment."

"Well I was thinking if I deposit more money the wallet do not drain more funds... and . I still earn passive incomes as before."

"So I tried.funding with 20 usd. .. after 2 hours .. that 20 usd remains in the wallet... so I was thinking that nothing happends if I fund more money."

"Then I deposit 2300 usd...thinking that funds stays in my wallet and keep earning as before with the node."

"But surprise.. that 2300 drain to.that smart contract.... So I have lost 2900 usd...."

"Customer service of coinbase wallet... first says that the money remains in the pool..and after 90 days it will return to my wallet.... after I ask them again.. and they told me that those funds are in the pool forever...and they do not return to my wallet."

"Searching in debank.com also in etherscan.io , the address where my money went... only have around 500 usd.. so that means that my money was gone."

"They claim that if I pay a $5000 deposit that all my funds will be wired back to my bank account. Has anyone ever attempted this to get them to send your funds back?"

"There's no recourse when they fraudulently steal your funds, it happened to me too, supposedly my funds will return in 90 days from date of "pledging", but I'm pretty sure it ain't gonna happen. Bottom line, do a ton of research before joining any defi platforms and do not trust COINBASE WALLET either....if ur getting this advice from Chinese girls on dating sites, seriously..the "pig butchering" scheme is so rampant rigjt now....."

"I lost $24,000 to this scam." "I lost 19k in this scam." "I just lo[s]t 80K USDT." "They con me out 63k." "I lost 70k on this type of scam." "Yes I lost 10k." "I lost 50,490 USDT." "I funded the entire 50k. And got nothing back." "I lost 28k USDT. It all started when I clicked the smart contract button." "I lost 15k, know people who lost 70k-250k range." "I got scammed out of 600k." "Lost 52k on same site cb-titan, the scammers accounts got hundred of millions of dollars & coinbase doing nothing!" "I meeting people who have lost hundreds of thousands -- same scam." "I just became victim to the scam and I lost over $100,000 taken out of my Coinbase Wallet."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Fake Liquidity Mining Scams

Date	Event	Description
December 3rd, 2021 12:00:00 AM	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost is unknown.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Prevention Policies

The primary issue is that the user is providing a platform with unlimited withdrawal access to their wallet. There is an extremely limited legitimate use case for authorizing unlimited withdrawals, and this needs to be made very clear for users. Having a standard way which legitimate firms could set up and register would reduce the expectation of interaction with anonymous services. There are many things which platforms could do to educate users. Having a standard to prove that users understand the risks prior to withdrawals could significantly reduce the risk as well.