How to recognize fake "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" websites

What is the fake "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" website?

"Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" is a scam that masquerades as Maple Finance's official website (maple.finance). It lures users with a promise of a future allocation. This scam aims to trick victims into exposing their digital wallets to a cryptocurrency drainer that can siphon the funds stored therein.

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

Federal Trade Commission (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 "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" website overview

Our research team discovered this scam promoted on qualify-maple[.]co, but it could also be hosted on other domains as well. This page is a close visual copy of the official Maple Finance site (maple.finance). Maple Finance is a DeFi (Decentralized Finance) platform designed to connect institutional borrowers with capital lenders. The imitator webpage offers users the opportunity to check their eligibility for an upcoming bonus allocation.

It must be stressed that this airdrop is fake and in no way associated with the actual Maple Finance platform or any other existing projects/entities.

When a user presses the "Connect Wallet" button on the fraudulent page, they are prompted to select their cryptowallet and link it. Doing so signs a malicious contract that facilitates the cryptocurrency drainer. Essentially, a mechanism is triggered that begins stealing funds from the exposed digital wallet.

This activity comprises automated transactions, which may appear vague and remain unnoticed for a significant amount of time. It is noteworthy that some cryptocurrency drainers can roughly estimate the value of digital assets and determine which to prioritize stealing.

It must be mentioned that due to the practically untraceable nature of cryptocurrency transactions, they cannot be reversed. Hence, victims of such scams cannot recover the stolen digital assets.

Cryptocurrency drainer scam examples

We have investigated countless crypto scams; "Bio Protocol ($BIO) Airdrop", "$SALARY Airdrop", "$BCKR airdrop", fake "Meteora" website, and "HyperSwap Ecosystem Points Program" are merely some of our newest articles on drainers.

Aside from this type of scam, others that target digital currencies tend to do so by phishing for wallet log-in credentials or by tricking users into manually transferring funds to scammer-owned wallets.

Online scams are often poorly made and full of mistakes, but they can be competently put together and even convincingly disguised as content associated with legitimate entities. Therefore, we highly recommend exercising caution when browsing and investing online.

How did I open a scam website?

Prevalent online scam promotional techniques include: spam (e.g., emails, browser notifications, social media/ forum posts, DMs/PMs, robocalls/ cold calls, SMSes, etc.), webpages utilizing rogue advertising networks, malvertising (intrusive advertisements), typosquatting (mistyped URLs), and adware (ads/redirects).

Crypto drainers are commonly endorsed via intrusive pop-up adverts, which can be fully functional drainers themselves. These advertisements have even been encountered on genuine sites that had been hacked.

Another widely used endorsement method is social media spam. These posts and direct/private messages can be made using hacked accounts (i.e., ones originally belonging to real projects, companies, celebrities, influencers, etc.). If the promoted scam aligns with the content ordinarily posted by the account – this creates an incredible impression of legitimacy.

How to avoid visiting scam websites?

Caution is crucial to ensuring your online safety. Therefore, be wary of websites, adverts, and communications making promises that sound too good to be true. Pay attention to URLs and enter them carefully. Do not use sites offering pirated content or other dubious services (e.g., illegal streaming/downloading, Torrenting, etc.), as these webpages are usually monetized through rogue advertising networks.

Do not open attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant emails and other messages. Do not enable questionable webpages to deliver browser notifications; ignore or block their notification requests.

Download only from official/trustworthy channels and be attentive when installing (e.g., study terms and options, use "Custom/Advanced" settings, and opt out of supplementary apps, extensions, etc.) – to prevent bundled/harmful software (like adware) from infiltrating the device.

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 "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" website (GIF):

Screenshot of the official Maple Finance website (maple.finance):

Instant automatic malware removal:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" 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 deceptive content hosted on the Internet. These scams are designed to trick users into performing certain actions, such as connecting digital wallets to drainers, making monetary transactions, providing vulnerable data, downloading/installing software, buying products, and so forth.

What is the purpose of online scams?

Online scams aim to generate revenue at their victims' expense. Cyber criminals predominantly profit by obtaining funds through deception, endorsing content (e.g., websites, programs, products, services, etc.), abusing/selling sensitive data, and spreading malware.

I have lost digital assets to the "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" scam, can I get my money back?

No, cryptocurrency transactions cannot be reversed because they are practically untraceable. Therefore, victims of scams like this fake "Maple Finance Bonus Allocation" page cannot return the stolen funds.

Why do I encounter online scams?

Online scams are primarily encountered via intrusive ads, spam (e.g., social media posts, PMs/DMs, emails, browser notifications, etc.), sites using advertising networks, mistyped URLs, and adware.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from online scams?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan visited websites and detect rogue, deceptive, and malicious pages. Additionally, Combo Cleaner can deny all further access to sites hosting such content.