Bitcoin Forum

Economy => Scam Accusations => Topic started by: tmfp on July 25, 2018, 11:20:42 AM



Title: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: tmfp on July 25, 2018, 11:20:42 AM

Wattum.io, to be exact.

https://i.imgur.com/r2mOtKw.png?1

That's got us off on the wrong foot.
The domain .io covers a post colonial area called the British Indian Ocean territory, particularly the Chagos Islands.
They were popular addresses for tech and startups (and also scams) from the start, but their popularity plummeted with companies that had any social awareness because of the ethnic cleansing carried out (https://gigaom.com/2014/06/30/the-dark-side-of-io-how-the-u-k-is-making-web-domain-profits-from-a-shady-cold-war-land-deal/) in that area by the British Government.
Like many domains, anyone can buy a .io address, including kiddiePr0nnners. (http://www.sigurnodijete.ba/en/83-aktuelno/938-british-overseas-territories-host-more-than-1-000-child-sex-abuse-websites-despite-a-government-crack-down-on-exploitation)

Anyways, that's no reason to draw any hasty conclusions, I'm sure there's thousands of totally legit .io businesses about.


As I research and do due dilligence on investment opportunities in the crypto field, it's often difficult to conclusively find proof of courtroom standard that such and such a scheme is definitely a scam, but it is fairly easy to look for signs in their behavior that indicate that extra skepticism is prudent, including the telling of falsehoods.
There are two basic reasons not to deal with liars.
One is that liars are unpleasant people generally and I don't want to reward their behavior by investing with them.
Two is that liars don't stop lying. If you find something innocuous but provably and deliberately a falsehood - lie - then there's a temptation to say "Oh, it's not important" and let it go. I don't think that's wise. If someone lies or misleads others on the small things, then surely the impulse to lie would be increased as the reward for doing so grows.

Anyway again, this pre amble is relevant.
For some reason I get notifications on a couple of those generic threads much loved of spammers, about Cloud Mining (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4711833.0) and saw this one

Hi, miners!
I am looking for cloud mining reviews, ROI, payouts and more information about cloud mining, please give your honest reviews and reasoned advice about legal cloud mining service...

That's bot/spammer grammar, so I looked at "Jack"s recent posts.
Strange.
On the same day he was looking for cloud mining advice, he was busy posting this everywhere...

https://i.imgur.com/Jutxb9S.png

He was also being answered by another 'Peterson' account, registered at the same time

I mine for 2 years and mining now, so in my personal rating of legal, profitable mining services with advanced equipment, high-quality service with daily payments:
Genesis (new mining farms, promo codes, but sometimes they have some problems with payments)
Wattum.io (most profitable offer for mining btc and altcoins, data-centers located at USA and Canada)

This post has since been deleted in a cleanup of that account, a day after I posted the first of a few warnings about the two accounts and another two, MelisaMoris (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1171325) and DavidStone (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1187036) which were also "echochambering" Wattum endorsement in the same way.
The pairing of Genesis and Wattum in their shilling is a common tactic of "credit by association" i.e. Genesis are seen to be legit cloud mining market leaders (by the unenlightened (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1185909.msg42801686#msg42801686) lol) so by linking the two names in the reader's comprehension, Wattum receives vicarious credibility.

"No Big Deal", you say, "Alt accounts are doing this all the time".
Yeah, probably, but by dismissing it as such you fall into the "accepting the little lie" syndrome I mention above.

It prompted me to have a look at Wattum.
They have a pretty standard website, full of standard unverified claims in broken English

Quote
The USA and Canada are TOP countries to invest in, which ensures the high reliability of Wattum company.

Quote
With our expertise, we are able to reduce energy consumption, while increasing the hashing power of Mining Rigs. Our contracts for electricity are below average market prices.

Quote
While we keep the exact locations private as a security precaution, the bulk of our mining is split between our data centers in Miami (USA) and Winnipeg (Canada).

Their pricing is standard, for BTC $89 per Th/s. They charge a maintenance fee, (variously and on the same page??) quoted as $0.319 Ths/day and $0.35 per day. Currently 1 Th/s will return about $0.40 mined per day, so at a cumulative net income of $0.05 per day that looks like 20 days to earn a dollar, or 4.8+ years to ROI. Of course, they also have a minimum withdrawal amout of 0.004BTC, around $33, so small investors will have to wait years to get their dust).
But at least Wattum can't be accused of fanciful ROI claiming, unlike the Kazakh Kave Kompany (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2781356.0)....

Wattum claim to be in serviced offices in NY. That's in America, where they can't sell their passive investment plans to the locals.
Yeah, but they have lots of people, including PR specialists and media specialists.
Back to the "little lie" concept.
These pushy and ambitious sales/media persons have lots of time and nous to be creative in their attempts to establish a solid perception of Wattum, the more likely to attract investment.
For example, they have a scrolling "REVIEWS" section on their landing page, featuring happy, contented customers.
These customers are called Ali Moani and Terry Gramm.
(Just a small diversion here.
I have experience of scam operations firsthand, including "boiler room" selling of fictitious investment programs.
You need a certain psychological makeup to lie to people on a deliberate, ongoing basis.
You dehumanise the "marks", the victims, and convince yourself that they deserve to get ripped off because of their stupidity.
You become contemptuous of them. In one particular Gold shares scam that I knew intimately the cold calling boiler room guys would have a weekly competiton amongst themselves (with a $10k sweepstake prize) for the most pisstaking but successful completion, containing the most outrageous lies and jokes..)
Anyway, Ali Moani = Alimony phonetically. Good joke.
And Ali Moani, the satisfied Wattum German investor, only exists in the imagination of Wattum's PR department (and Columbia).

https://i.imgur.com/ZEhnid9.png


https://i.imgur.com/ZdEmzcn.png


And "Terry Gramm" from Canada, satisfied customer of Wattum

https://i.imgur.com/VkJCevZ.png

is actually HAPPY CUTE CAUCASIAN MAN from Shutterstock

https://i.imgur.com/Adb8inM.png


It's the "little lies", see.

MTF.


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: tmfp on July 25, 2018, 07:36:58 PM


Whilst I was making that effortpost notifications came up from JackPeterson1, rather outraged and replying to my other posts.

 

I mine for 4 years and mining now, so in my personal rating of legal, profitable mining services with advanced equipment, high-quality service with daily payments:
Genesis (new mining farms, promo codes, but sometimes they have some problems with payments)
Wattum.io (most profitable offer for mining btc and altcoins, data-centers located at USA and Canada, contracts without Maintenance fee.)

For 4 years you are into mining field means why you still being a junior member on this forum bro. I do not know why you are sharing the good review about the Genesis and other cloud mining sites mate....

The reason is that he's a shill for Wattum, whoever the fuck they are. Read my trust feedback for him and follow the links.

 I invested in Genesis 4 years ago, it was hash for mining bitcoin, this summer I invested in Wattum and I don't understand what is strange here for you? Why you follow my comments?
Do you have at least one argument proving that the service does not make payments or smth like that?
You'll not find any negative feedback because the service is working and provides legally services.

and

I have 2 years experience in mining using hashpower at cloud mining services and mining now, so in my personal rating of legal, profitable mining services with advanced equipment, high-quality service with daily payments: Genesis (new mining farms, promo codes, but sometimes they have some problems with payments);
Wattum.io (most profitable offer for mining btc and altcoins, data-centers located at USA and Canada, contracts without Maintenance fee.)

This is a shill for the obscure Wattum site: along for four alts they have been posting this shit on all these threads. Read my trust feedback.

Why you think like this?
There is not a single argument in favor of the fact that this is a scam.
It's a legal company with real data-centers in USA and all documents.
Btw, it's not correct to write about smth what you've never tried
Try how the service works, I started with an investment of $ 150, because I also feared the scam, but they set up all and I using hash for mining and have my daily payment.
So, you can test this service right now and check it by all criteria!






I doubt that we'll hear much more from "Jack". Here's why.....

The JackPeterson1 and MelisaMoris BCT accounts have both posted bounty claiming links to the same fake Facebook account, in the name Alex Nikon.


Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017979071707
Friends: 392
Shares:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/457932590998806/permalink/1472433289548726/
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=178276802781621&id=100017979071707

Posts:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=178276802781621&id=100017979071707&pnref=story
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=178489336093701&id=100017979071707&pnref=story


Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017979071707
Friends: 351
Followers: 115

Posts:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=173910246551610&id=100017979071707&pnref=story
Shares:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=173910306551604&id=100017979071707&pnref=story


Twitter Username: @liliaz17
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/liliaz17

Retweets:
https://twitter.com/Xwin_CryptoBet/status/957584628814139392


tweet:
https://twitter.com/liliaz17/status/957869587059625984


It's reasonable to assume that all three, that's BCT accounts JackPeterson1 and MelisaMoris and the FaceBook account Alex Nikon, are operated by the same entity.
As you can see in the MelisaMoris post, there is also a Twitter linked account, in the name of liliaz17, also controlled by the same person.

https://i.imgur.com/veuCny5.png

She looks familiar....

https://i.imgur.com/NhS2kWO.png


Soooo, we've gone from a bit of what looked like usual BCT spam to a network of fake accounts run by Wattum's own SMM Specialist, lying about being Wattum investors and writing fake reviews.
The little white Wattum lies are getting bigger and darker. I wonder where they stop....

http://www.animatedimages.org/data/media/1437/animated-pinocchio-image-0081.gif (http://www.animatedimages.org/cat-pinocchio-1437.htm)






Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: tmfp on July 30, 2018, 03:59:54 PM

The Wattum Social Media Manager Liliia Nikitchuk continues to post here on BCT, shilling with different accounts and the same MO, grouping Genesis and Wattum together to give credibility to the latter.
The latest example of this is with yet another account liliiaolivia2017 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1039913) having a conversation with another of her revealed alts.
The subject is mining some shitcoin called Siacoin specifically

YEAH! It’s easy for companies to take peoples’ money, and then not pay out. More then 80% of cloud mining companies are scams. In just the last few months, two cloud mining scams were uncovered: HashOcean and Bitcoin Cloud Services.
The company have to act legit. I tried to mine and even concluded several contracts with different services, so not bad experience was with Genesis Mining and Wattum. Receiving revenue daily and quite well on profitability.
I don't remember exactly who of these services have siacoin mining contracts, just check it.



 

Which ROI for mining from both services for mining Siacoin?
I heard that genesis has problems with their support. Is it true?


The same crap, one account rates Genesis (known) and Wattum (unknown) on par with each other, then the other account raises questions about Genesis' "problems", attempting to leave a favorable impression for Wattum.

An old, unimaginative and easily seen thru ploy, especially when all the alts use the same (fake) FaceBook and are easily discovered..

But it does beg the question: if Wattum were a legitimate business, why would they see the need to hire a SMM to tell lies and have echo convos, why would they create fake personas to use as testimonials and, most of all, would they be so incompetent as to be this easily found out to be lying, but competent enough otherwise to run a (legitimate) business?

I guess the guy to ask is CEO Arseniy Grusha, who apparently is also a regional Director of the grandly named "Blockchain and Crypto Mining Association", whoever they may be.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dg3xPi-X0AAgU9M.jpg





Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: magneto on July 30, 2018, 09:48:50 PM
Cloud mining is pretty much this area that has been used for scam thousands of times by now, and people still don't seem to take their research seriously. This is a very obvious case of a fraud, in my opinion.

No way are they even actually mining, with all of the shills on bitcointalk as well as the statement that they are the biggest cloud mining company when there's probably at least 5-10 of more well known cloud mining sites (and even them are not perfectly safe or guaranteed to be legitimate). Their entire site seems unprofessional, and pretty much completely uncharacteristic of a company that would actually mine, you would think.

Obviously, you've also got the fake testimonials. At worst it could even be considered identity theft. To me at least, this site is just too much risk for no reward for anyone to invest in it, but it's pretty much guaranteed to be an exit scam at some stage.


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: IconFirm on July 31, 2018, 03:47:16 PM
Good work again tmfp  ;)

I was waiting for the convicted rapist testimonial a'la BitClub....... :D :D


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: Zapo on August 01, 2018, 12:33:53 PM
It really seems there are no legitimate mining projects left.

Well said tmfp!


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: Biffa on March 07, 2019, 05:27:06 PM
Back again: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5118079.msg48817978#new


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: rifleman74 on March 07, 2019, 06:50:20 PM
Back again: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5118079.msg48817978#new

And they're "denying" this very thread.


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: tmfp on March 07, 2019, 07:43:58 PM
Back again: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5118079.msg48817978#new

And they're "denying" this very thread.

Thanks, yeah so I see.
And running straight into some credibility problems....snappy comeback tho  ::)

https://i.imgur.com/ME81LXt.jpg

I asked them a couple of questions and they seem to have logged off. Hope I haven't upset them.



I expect the fastidious Frodo may de-exist the Mining thread, so I archived it (https://archive.is/5GtBb) to date.  :)



Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: kano on March 07, 2019, 09:21:58 PM
I added a reply to your post in the pools section that makes it completely clear :)

Edit: oh the thread has been moved to altcoins now :)


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: tmfp on March 07, 2019, 09:32:47 PM
I added a reply to your post in the pools section that makes it completely clear :)

Yes the two are clearly exactly the same:

Code:
# host pool.minerall.io
pool.minerall.io has address 176.9.40.94

# host wpool.wattum.io
wpool.wattum.io has address 176.9.40.94

Thanks.
You know far more about mining pools than me just about anybody, would you hazard a guess about how that can be?


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: Wattum Official on August 16, 2021, 10:17:57 AM
Hey there,

Thank you for taking the time to audit our company.  We are proud of where we stand today and also regret some of our mistakes we've made since inception.  Our company began in 2019, piggybacking off the knowledge and expertise of our founder, Arseniy. 

Wattum has become a fast growing company and we strive to not only keep our customers happy but create long term relationships with our clients.  We apologize for our mistakes and hope you look again at Wattum in the future.  We think you'll like what you see.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if we can help answer any further questions at 720.706.0673.

Sincerely,
Gersey
Customer Success | WATTUM


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: The Sceptical Chymist on August 16, 2021, 04:08:14 PM
Our company began in 2019, piggybacking off the knowledge and expertise of our founder, Arseniy.  
I'm not sure if necrobumping this thread is appropriate, even if it is from someone claiming to be the project owner--but you say Wattum started out in 2019, right?  Is that a different Wattum from the one mentioned by OP here in 2018?  Just curious, and I could be misunderstanding things of course.

Edit:

It's strange that it only appears now when it's been here on the forum since 2020, and when it appears change the date of the company's existence
Good, so it wasn't just me being a complete dipstick then.  I assume that member bumped this thread for advertising purposes, though I have no idea whether Wattum Official is who they say they are.


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: Slow death on August 16, 2021, 06:11:30 PM
Is that a different Wattum from the one mentioned by OP here in 2018? 

he is definitely talking about the same project:

Hey there,

Thank you for taking the time to audit our company.  We are proud of where we stand today and also regret some of our mistakes we've made since inception.  Our company began in 2019, piggybacking off the knowledge and expertise of our founder, Arseniy...

I guess the guy to ask is CEO Arseniy Grusha, who apparently is also a regional Director of the grandly named "Blockchain and Crypto Mining Association", whoever they may be.

It's strange that it only appears now when it's been here on the forum since 2020, and when it appears change the date of the company's existence


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: scambust on August 16, 2021, 06:17:54 PM
It has been a long time since Josh Garza of Paycoin, why can't cloud mining scams die and fade away? I come to realize these scams will still continue to exist in the next ten years.


Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: tmfp on August 17, 2021, 09:32:43 PM
Hey there,

<snip> Our company began in 2019 <snip>



<snip>Wattum has been supplying quality mining equipment, hosting, and management for 4 years <snip>



Title: Re: WATTUM "Largest cloud mining company on the market" OH RILLY?
Post by: nutildah on August 22, 2021, 05:49:23 PM
Hey there,

<snip> Our company began in 2019 <snip>



<snip>Wattum has been supplying quality mining equipment, hosting, and management for 4 years <snip>

Seems like nobody there really knows when they began.

https://wattummanagement.medium.com/what-is-wattum-4c1f50ed9c5b
Quote
Since 2018, WATTUM offers a cloud mining service for Bitcoin and Altcoins with flexible contract pricing that adjusts to various market conditions.

They had a Coindesk article about then a couple months ago, which makes me think their re-emergence is a sort of reputation clean-up effort:

Wattum to Build Kazakhstan Mining Farm in Conjunction With Enegix (https://www.coindesk.com/wattum-to-build-kazakhstan-mining-farm)

And a recent partnership with a traded American company:

Integrated Ventures and Wattum Management Partner to Secure 12 Month Purchase Deal for 2,400 WhatsMiners (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/integrated-ventures-and-wattum-management-partner-to-secure-12-month-purchase-deal-for-2-400-whatsminers-301318405.html)