How to spot scam websites like the fake Solana website
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of page is the fake Solana site?
We have examined this page and concluded that it is a fake Solana website (an identical copy) offering to register for participation in an ignition hackathon and win up to $5 million in prizes. Typically, scams of this kind are promoted via Twitter, Discord, Telegram, and other sites or apps, various shady advertisements, or pages that use questionable advertising networks.
More about the Solana scam website
This fake Solana website looks very similar to the official one. Their layouts and content look alike but have different URL addresses. If offers to participate in an ignition hackathon to win up to five million dollars in prizes. After clicking the "START BUILDING" button users are prompted with a page asking to enter the secret phrase used to recover the cryptowallet. This allows cyber criminals to gain access to victims' wallets and steal funds.
There are many crypto-related scams on the Internet. Most of them are used to trick people into participating in fake giveaways (sending cryptocurrency) or providing wallet passwords/recovery phrases. Usually, people who fall for such scams lose cryptocurrency and cannot retrieve lost funds. Thus, it is important to examine websites before providing information or transferring crypto.
| Name | Solana scam website |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Participants can win up to five million dollars in prizes |
| Disguise | Legitimate Solana website |
| Related Domain | solanalink[.]live |
| Detection Names (solanalink[.]live) | BitDefender (Malware), ESTsecurity-Threat Inside (Phishing), Fortinet (Malware), G-Data (Malware), Scantitan (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Serving IP Address | 68.65.123.44 |
| Symptoms | Fake error messages, fake system warnings, pop-up errors, hoax computer scan. |
| Distribution methods | Compromised websites, rogue online pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications. |
| Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
More examples of similar scams
"CoinMarketCap Giveaway Scam", "Official Solana NFT Launch", "Sync Wallets" are examples of crypto-related scams. It is popular among cybercriminals to run various crypto-related scams because cryptocurrency transactions are virtually irreversible (and untraceable), making it impossible for victims to recover their funds.
How did I open a scam website?
Usually, scammers use rogue advertising networks, shady advertisements, fake download buttons on pages, questionable software (like adware), or search engine poisoning techniques to promote their scams. They also use apps/socializing networks like Telegram, Discord, Twitter, etc. In all cases, scam websites are not visited on purpose.
How to avoid visiting scam pages?
Do not click on shady advertisements or visit questionable pages (or allow such pages to show notifications). Download applications and files from legitimate sources such as official pages and direct links. Do not use unofficial sites, third-party downloaders, P2P networks, and similar sources to download any software.
Deselect unwanted applications included in downloaders and installers before downloading or installing programs. If your computer is already infected with unwanted apps, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.
The appearance of Solana scam website (GIF):
Text in this website:
Ignition Hackathon • Up to $5 million in prizes & funding • Register and build now ->
Developers Network Validators Community Ecosystem
Language chooser dropdown
Powerful for developers. Fast for everyone.
Solana is a decentralized blockchain built to enable scalable, user-friendly apps for the world.
Transactions per second 1,000
Total Transactions
Avg. cost per transaction $0.00025
Validator nodes 1,000
Join the fastest growing ecosystem
Solana is the fastest blockchain in the world and the fastest growing ecosystem in crypto, with over 400 projects spanning DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and more.
Instant automatic malware removal:
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Quick menu:
- What is Solana scam website?
- How to identify a pop-up scam?
- How do pop-up scams work?
- How to remove fake pop-ups?
- How to prevent fake pop-ups?
- What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?
How to identify a pop-up scam?
Pop-up windows with various fake messages are a common type of lures cybercriminals use. They collect sensitive personal data, trick Internet users into calling fake tech support numbers, subscribe to useless online services, invest in shady cryptocurrency schemes, etc.
While in the majority of cases these pop-ups don't infect users' devices with malware, they can cause direct monetary loss or could result in identity theft.
Cybercriminals strive to create their rogue pop-up windows to look trustworthy, however, scams typically have the following characteristics:
- Spelling mistakes and non-professional images - Closely inspect the information displayed in a pop-up. Spelling mistakes and unprofessional images could be a sign of a scam.
- Sense of urgency - Countdown timer with a couple of minutes on it, asking you to enter your personal information or subscribe to some online service.
- Statements that you won something - If you haven't participated in a lottery, online competition, etc., and you see a pop-up window stating that you won.
- Computer or mobile device scan - A pop-up window that scans your device and informs of detected issues - is undoubtedly a scam; webpages cannot perform such actions.
- Exclusivity - Pop-up windows stating that only you are given secret access to a financial scheme that can quickly make you rich.
Example of a pop-up scam:
How do pop-up scams work?
Cybercriminals and deceptive marketers usually use various advertising networks, search engine poisoning techniques, and shady websites to generate traffic to their pop-ups. Users land on their online lures after clicking on fake download buttons, using a torrent website, or simply clicking on an Internet search engine result.
Based on users' location and device information, they are presented with a scam pop-up. Lures presented in such pop-ups range from get-rich-quick schemes to fake virus scans.
How to remove fake pop-ups?
In most cases, pop-up scams do not infect users' devices with malware. If you encountered a scam pop-up, simply closing it should be enough. In some cases scam, pop-ups may be hard to close; in such cases - close your Internet browser and restart it.
In extremely rare cases, you might need to reset your Internet browser. For this, use our instructions explaining how to reset Internet browser settings.
How to prevent fake pop-ups?
To prevent seeing pop-up scams, you should visit only reputable websites. Torrent, Crack, free online movie streaming, YouTube video download, and other websites of similar reputation commonly redirect Internet users to pop-up scams.
To minimize the risk of encountering pop-up scams, you should keep your Internet browsers up-to-date and use reputable anti-malware application. For this purpose, we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?
This depends on the type of scam that you fell for. Most commonly, pop-up scams try to trick users into sending money, giving away personal information, or giving access to one's device.
- If you sent money to scammers: You should contact your financial institution and explain that you were scammed. If informed promptly, there's a chance to get your money back.
- If you gave away your personal information: You should change your passwords and enable two-factor authentication in all online services that you use. Visit Federal Trade Commission to report identity theft and get personalized recovery steps.
- If you let scammers connect to your device: You should scan your computer with reputable anti-malware (we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows) - cyber criminals could have planted trojans, keyloggers, and other malware, don't use your computer until removing possible threats.
- Help other Internet users: report Internet scams to Federal Trade Commission.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a pop-up scam?
A pop-up scam is a type of scam that scammers use to trick users into performing certain actions. Typically, these pop-up scams are delivered by deceptive pages.
What is the purpose of a pop-up scam?
It can be used to extract personal information and (or) money, distribute malware (or other unwanted software), and for other purposes.
Why do I encounter fake pop-ups?
Most scams of this kind (pop-up scams) are promoted via pages that use questionable advertising networks, deceptive advertisements, shady applications, website notifications. Also, they can be promoted using search engine poisoning techniques. Either way, scammers use deceptive methods to promote their scams/scam websites.
Will Combo Cleaner protect me from pop-up scams?
Combo Cleaner will scan visited websites and detect untrustworthy ones (including pages used to deliver pop-up scams). This application will warn you immediately and restrict access to malicious (or potentially malicious) pages.
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