How to recognize fake "Solana (SOL) Rewards" sites

What is the fake "Solana (SOL) Rewards" website?

Our researchers discovered this "Solana (SOL) Rewards" webpage during a routine investigation. This deceptive page promises "special rewards". It must be emphasized that this bogus rewards program is not associated with the real Solana platform. The purpose of this site is to trick users into exposing their cryptowallets to a cryptocurrency drainer.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We do not review crypto projects, please do your own research when investing money.

Federal Trade Comission (FTC) states that since the start of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in crypto to scams – that's about one out of every four dollars reported lost, more than any other payment method.

Fake "Solana (SOL) Rewards" website overview

We discovered this scam on soldrop.solvault[.]ws, yet it could also be hosted on different domains. Bedecked with Solana's logo and branding, this page claims that users can get a "special reward" from the Solana community.

As mentioned in the introduction, this airdrop is fake, and it is in no way associated with the actual Solana blockchain or any other existing platforms or entities.

When a user presses the "CLAIM REWARD" button, they are prompted to connect their digital wallet. Linking a cryptowallet signs a malicious contract that facilitates the draining mechanism. Essentially, the victim's funds are transferred to scammer-owned wallets through automated transactions.

Some drainers can roughly estimate the value of digital assets and determine which to prioritize stealing. This activity may appear vague, so it might remain unnoticed for a long time.

It must be mentioned that due to the practically untraceable nature of cryptocurrency transactions, they cannot be reversed. Therefore, victims of scams like this fake "Solana (SOL) Rewards" website cannot recover the stolen assets.

Cryptocurrency drainer scam examples

"Snoonaut ($SNOOT) Airdrop", fake "Centric" website, fake "Naoris Protocol" website, "Spheron (SPON) Reward", and fake "Nura Labs" website are just some of our newest articles on cryptocurrency drainers. Aside from using draining scripts, such scams commonly rely on phishing wallet log-in credentials or deception to trick users into manually transferring assets to scammer-owned wallets.

The Internet is rife with deceptive and malicious content. Online scams can be competently put together, claim to be associated with legitimate content/entities, and even perfectly copy the design of legitimate websites. Due to this, we highly recommend vigilance when browsing and investing online.

How did I open a scam website?

Online scams are primarily promoted through websites employing rogue advertising networks (redirects), malvertising (intrusive ads), spam (e.g., emails, social media/ forum posts, browser notifications, DMs/PMs, cold calls/ robocalls, SMSes, etc.), typosquatting (misspelled URLs), and adware (adverts/redirects).

One of the widely used techniques for promoting crypto drainers is malvertising, specifically – intrusive pop-up advertisements. Some of these pop-ups are fully functional drainers themselves; they lure users into "connecting" digital wallets by promising incredible benefits. Ads of this kind have even been encountered on genuine websites that had been hacked.

Another prevalent method is social media spam. Promotional posts and direct/private messages (DMs/PMs) can be made using accounts stolen from real entrepreneurs, celebrities, influencers, projects, companies, and so on.

How to avoid visiting scam websites?

Caution and vigilance are essential to ensuring your online safety. Therefore, be wary of websites, advertisements, and messages that make unbelievable promises or warn about severe threats. Take note of URLs and type them carefully.

Do not use sites offering pirated software/media or other questionable services (e.g., Torrenting, illegal streaming/downloading, etc.), as these webpages are usually monetized through rogue advertising networks.

Do not permit dubious pages to deliver browser notifications; instead, ignore or block their notification requests. Do not open attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant emails and other messages.

Download only from official/verified sources and be attentive when installing (e.g., study terms and options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings, and opt out of additional apps, extensions, features, etc.) – to prevent bundled/harmful programs (like adware) from infiltrating the system.

If your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate all threats.

Appearance of the fake "Solana (SOL) Rewards" website (GIF):

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Quick menu:

• What is "Solana (SOL) Rewards" crypto drainer?
• 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 an online scam?

Online scams are a type of content hosted on the Web that aims to deceive users into performing specific actions. For example, victims can be enticed/scared into connecting digital wallets to crypto drainers, providing sensitive information, making monetary transactions, buying products, subscribing to services, downloading/installing software, etc.

What is the purpose of online scams?

The purpose of online scams is to generate revenue at their victims' expense. These scammers primarily profit by acquiring funds through deception, promoting content (e.g., sites, software, products, services, etc.), selling/abusing private information, and spreading malware.

I have lost digital assets to the "Solana (SOL) Rewards" scam, can I get my money back?

Cryptocurrency transactions cannot be reversed because they are nearly untraceable. Hence, victims of scams like this fake "Solana (SOL) Rewards" page cannot retrieve the stolen assets.

Why do I encounter online scams?

The most widely used promotional techniques include: sites using rogue advertising networks, spam (e.g., social media posts, PMs/DMs, emails, browser notifications, calls, SMSes, etc.), intrusive advertisements, mistyped URLs, and adware.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from online scams?

Combo Cleaner can scan visited websites for deception/malicious content. Therefore, should you happen upon such a webpage – you will be immediately warned, and further access to it will be blocked.