Cloud mining scam: how to recognise fake crypto mining

Is cloud mining always a scam?

No. Cloud mining is real: you rent computing power from a company that runs the equipment, and you receive a share of what that equipment earns. Those earnings go up and down, because the price, the network difficulty and electricity costs keep changing.

In a cloud mining scam, nothing is mined, or far less than claimed. The dashboard shows figures the provider types in itself, and small early payouts sometimes come from new members’ deposits. That starts to look like a Ponzi scheme. From the outside, both situations often look the same. The difference lies in the money flow, and that is usually something you cannot see yourself.

What are the warning signs of a cloud mining scam?

None of these signs is proof on its own. They are, however, the points Paucitas looks at especially closely in practice:

• a fixed daily return, even when the price falls;
• packages with rising tiers and ever higher promised returns;
• bonuses for recruiting new members, often across several levels;
• no verifiable information about the company or where the equipment is;
• a withdrawal that only goes through after “activation fees”, “tax” or a “deposit”.

Recognise one or two? That may be perfectly innocent. Recognise more, or does it simply not feel right? Then it makes sense to have someone look at it. The FCA also warns that if an investment sounds too good to be true, it probably is. More on that last sign in tax or a deposit before a withdrawal.

I can see profit on my dashboard but cannot withdraw. What now?

Our advice: hold off on paying anything extra to release a withdrawal, and do not put any more in for now. Keep what you have, such as messages, screenshots and your payments.

Then the question that is probably on your mind most: is my money gone? Not necessarily. Sometimes it is a technical problem or a slow provider, and it turns out not to be a scam at all. Sometimes there is still a balance somewhere you can reach yourself, for example because you still have technical access to your own wallet. Paucitas can then help you get back into it. And if the money has been moved on, Paucitas maps out where it ended up. Nobody can promise the outcome. But getting clarity does help.

Let Paucitas take a look and you will have clarity straight away instead of being left wondering.

What can you do with the Paucitas report?

The report shows whether there is still money available, or where it has gone, and what the next steps are. If it turns out to be a scam, that might be a report to Report Fraud, or to Police Scotland on 101 if you live in Scotland. The Paucitas report is a strong attachment to that, because it sets everything out fully and clearly. It is also a solid basis for a conversation with your bank or a solicitor.

What Paucitas does for you

Paucitas looks into the whole story, not just the transactions. Where did your money go, which parties and platforms sat in between, did money from other members pass through the same addresses, and did payouts come from real earnings or from other people’s deposits? Paucitas does all tracing itself, without tracing tools. On top of that, Paucitas reads through all the conversations, documents, emails and other communication, so you get a complete picture, with a timeline and where all the money went, step by step. You receive a report that anyone can follow and understand step by step.

You provide what you have: payments, wallet addresses, screenshots and messages. You do not need everything complete; Paucitas helps you gather it. Every investigation is tailored, and you receive a custom quote in advance that we go through together, with no surprises. Turnaround is from the same day to about two weeks.

Sources: FCA, crypto investment scams; Report Fraud, reporting fraud and cyber crime; Police Scotland, scams and frauds.