PLEASE NOTE: CoinmateVIP is in no way associated with the legitimate crypto exchange serving the Czech and Slovak markets since 2014 of a very similar name.
Coinmate – or CoinmateVIP as it’s also known – is a fake crypto platform and exchange that’s being used to scam people around the globe out of their money.
One person who became a victim of the scam contacted me to highlight the fact that Coinmate was operating a classic pig butchering / slaughtering crypto scam.
He said that it began when an attractive ‘woman’, who claimed to be from Hong Kong, contacted him out of the blue and struck up a friendship.
‘She’ would send him lots of pictures of what ‘she’ claimed was herself and her family. ‘She’ also claimed to be related to a prominent figure in the crypto space.
It wasn’t long before ‘she’ turned the conversation to crypto investing and told the victim of a platform ‘she’ knew where people where making huge, risk-free profits in a short space of time.
Intrigued, and not wanting to doubt his new love interest, the victim transferred thousands of dollars to the scheme in the hope that his investment would pay off.
However, as the alleged profits started to stack up he became anxious about having so much money in the account, so he decided to withdraw it.
At this point he was told his account had been locked, and that he would need to pay a release fee to secure the return of his funds, which he did.
The scammers then demanded further fees which the victim refused to pay. At this point he released he’d been scammed.
What makes Coinmate a scam?
As is often the case, the scammers have not put too much effort into the site’s design as they know it will be shut down or abandoned within a matter of months.
This is always one of the dead giveaways when spotting a scam site.
However, there are other tell-tale signs that Coinmate is a scam crypto platform.
They include:
- Content that contains spelling and grammatical errors.
- A domain name that was only registered a few months ago.
- The domain registrant’s details have been deliberately hidden.
- No social media profiles connected with the platform.
- App links that take the user to direct downloads and not the legitimate app store.
- Very little real content on the site. The images and copy that are there have been scraped from elsewhere.
- No details about the company, where it’s based or who’s behind it.
No legitimate crypto or financial platform would operate a site with all these issues.
Ignore anyone who approaches you online to invest in Coinmate as they won’t be who they claim to be.
Can I get my money back from the Coinmate scam?
The scammers who run sites like Coinmate are based around the world and go to great lengths to cover their tracks so it’s very difficult to get your funds back.
You should always contact the authorities in you country if you’ve been scammed in case they manage to track down the culprits.
There are also specialised companies that might be a be help which I’ve written about here.
Have you had any experience with this platform? Kindly share your thoughts in the comment section to help others stay informed and safe.