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Introduction
As cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow, so does the sophistication and persistence of scams built around it. Entering 2026, email inboxes and free publishing platforms are once again being weaponized by cybercriminals pushing fake crypto windfalls and automated mining fantasies. What makes this campaign notable is not its technical complexity, but its relentless reuse of simple, trusted services to create an illusion of legitimacy. This article documents an ongoing cryptocurrency scam operation that began in late 2025 and has continued, largely unchanged, into the new year.
Summary of the Original Campaign
In October 2025, a security researcher first encountered this scam after a colleague documented a fake cryptocurrency chatbot being used to lure victims. Following that discovery, the researcher deliberately exposed a honeypot email address to the campaign, allowing the scam emails to be collected and analyzed over time. These messages have continued to arrive steadily as 2026 begins, showing that the operation remains active and profitable.
The core promise of the scam is simple and tempting: recipients are told they unknowingly own cryptocurrency—often valued at over $100,000—generated through an automated Bitcoin cloud mining platform. According to the emails, this crypto is already “waiting” for them and can be claimed with minimal effort.
Most of the emails are extremely short, sometimes consisting of just a sentence and a link. That link commonly points to a page hosted on telegra[.]ph, a minimalist publishing platform designed for fast, anonymous content creation. Because telegra[.]ph pages look clean and are hosted on a legitimate domain, they can easily bypass suspicion from less experienced users.
In many cases, the attackers add an extra layer by routing victims through Google Forms. These emails appear more trustworthy, as Google’s infrastructure lends perceived credibility. Once a form is completed, the victim is redirected to the same telegra[.]ph scam page, where the real manipulation begins.
The telegra[.]ph pages consistently follow the same structure. They claim the user has accumulated a large amount of Bitcoin through automated mining and present a fake dashboard or chatbot interface. This chatbot guides the victim step by step, reinforcing the illusion of a real service. Eventually, the victim is told that a small “conversion” or “withdrawal” fee must be paid to convert the Bitcoin into U.S. dollars.
That fee is the trap. Any payment sent goes directly to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by the scammers. There is no Bitcoin, no mining platform, and no payout—only a carefully staged confidence trick.
To further document the process, the researcher published a YouTube video in November 2025, walking through the scam in detail and interacting with the fake chatbot until the final payment demand appeared. The campaign’s continued operation into 2026 highlights how effective these low-effort, high-volume scams remain.
What Undercode Say:
This campaign is a textbook example of how modern cybercrime favors scalability over sophistication. There is nothing technically advanced about these scam emails, web pages, or chatbots. Their power lies in repetition, psychology, and the abuse of trusted platforms.
Telegra[.]ph is not inherently malicious, nor are Google Forms. However, their frictionless publishing models make them attractive to criminals who need disposable infrastructure. A scam page can be created in minutes, abandoned just as quickly, and replaced without cost. This creates a whack-a-mole problem for defenders and platform moderators.
The fake chatbot plays a crucial psychological role. By simulating conversation, it reduces skepticism and creates a sense of guided progress. Victims are not just reading static text—they are “interacting” with what feels like a service. This increases emotional investment and lowers critical thinking, especially once a large dollar figure is introduced.
Another key factor is the framing of the scam. Victims are not asked to invest or send money upfront. Instead, they are told they already own the cryptocurrency. This flips the risk perception: paying a “small fee” feels like unlocking something that already belongs to them, rather than gambling on an unknown outcome.
The continued success of this campaign also shows that obvious scams are still profitable. Even if only a tiny percentage of recipients fall for it, the cost of sending emails and hosting pages is close to zero. As long as free platforms remain easy to abuse, campaigns like this will continue with minimal changes year after year.
From a defensive standpoint, education remains the strongest countermeasure. Users must understand that legitimate cryptocurrency platforms do not randomly assign assets, do not require upfront fees to release funds, and do not operate through anonymous publishing pages and chatbots. Without that awareness, even basic scams will keep claiming victims.
Fact Checker Results
✅ The campaign’s use of telegra[.]ph and Google Forms aligns with known abuse patterns seen in other scam operations.
✅ The described payment-for-withdrawal tactic is a well-documented cryptocurrency scam model.
❌ There is no evidence that any legitimate automated cloud mining platform distributes funds in this manner.
Prediction
🔮 Cryptocurrency-themed scams will increasingly rely on conversational interfaces, including fake chatbots and AI-styled assistants.
🔮 Free publishing and form-building platforms will remain prime infrastructure for low-cost scam campaigns.
🔮 As crypto regulation tightens, scams promising “forgotten” or “hidden” assets will become more common to bypass user skepticism.
🕵️📝✔️Let’s dive deep and fact‑check.
References:
Reported By: isc.sans.edu
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