Winna scam?? No. DuckDuckGo screwed me!!!!

[Key_plays2014]

I’m actually pissed at myself and at DuckDuckGo right now.

Just got a new laptop recently, so I didn’t have any of my usual bookmarks saved. Instead of typing the exact URL from memory, I searched “Winna” on DuckDuckGo.  Clicked one of the top results without thinking too much. Stupid me!  Site looked completely legit. Same layout, same logo, everything looked normal. Deposited, played a bit... Nothing unusual.

Tried to withdraw… suddenly “verification required” and then I couldn’t log back in.  My heart dropped!!!! First thought in my head?  “Great. Winna scam.”  I was already mentally drafting a rage thread (One of the reasons I registered).  Then I slowed down and actually checked the domain carefully, It wasn’t the real site (I fu**** up!!!!!).. It was a clone, slightly different URL and almost identical design. And somehow it was ranking high on DuckDuckGo.  I felt very stupid until now!!!

I’m honestly more angry now that a phishing clone can rank that easily.  If you’re on a new device, double check the URL. Don’t trust search engines blindly. Crypto + gambling + phishing is a dangerous mix.

Learned that the expensive way.  Phew!!!!

[odunybiz]

I’m actually pissed at myself and at DuckDuckGo right now.

Just got a new laptop recently, so I didn’t have any of my usual bookmarks saved. Instead of typing the exact URL from memory, I searched “Winna” on DuckDuckGo.  Clicked one of the top results without thinking too much. Stupid me!  Site looked completely legit. Same layout, same logo, everything looked normal. Deposited, played a bit... Nothing unusual.

Tried to withdraw… suddenly “verification required” and then I couldn’t log back in.  My heart dropped!!!! First thought in my head?  “Great. Winna scam.”  I was already mentally drafting a rage thread (One of the reasons I registered).  Then I slowed down and actually checked the domain carefully, It wasn’t the real site (I fu**** up!!!!!).. It was a clone, slightly different URL and almost identical design. And somehow it was ranking high on DuckDuckGo.  I felt very stupid until now!!!

I’m honestly more angry now that a phishing clone can rank that easily.  If you’re on a new device, double check the URL. Don’t trust search engines blindly. Crypto + gambling + phishing is a dangerous mix.

Learned that the expensive way.  Phew!!!!

Firstly, I think this post doesn't belong here. It is more of Scam Accusations than here. Nevertheless, it's very important to check out every down letters including the domain name of any website you are logging into this days especially when using a new device. May scammers now make use of cloned website to scam people. Recently, this our forum was cloned as well. Very similar, no real visible difference.

[Key_plays2014]

Sorry, I've been reading threads here but just registered so still not familiar with what and where.  Should I delete this and post somewhere else?

[Cointxz]

Sorry, I've been reading threads here but just registered so still not familiar with what and where.  Should I delete this and post somewhere else?

You can move this topic on your own by using the move button located at the bottom left of your thread. You can’t delete your own thread tho.

This thread should be put on scam accusation to be aware about the danger on using that browser.

That’s why I always double check the website url instead of relying on the top search. Even on google sometimes scam casino on the top due to ads.

[Key_plays2014]

Thank you! I hope I did it correctly.

Yeah, I need to be extra careful next time to not look stupid.

[crwth]

I'm not sure, but it's possible that those scammers bought their way to the top of DuckDuckGo ^{(I'm not sure if it's possible, though, but since it has happened to the OP, then it could be happening on other sites as well)}

This might be a big lesson for you, OP: verify the websites you visit, because scammers can easily replicate sites and use confusing names that make it look like the legitimate one.

I don't think recovery would be an option for you, OP, but thanks for sharing this information; it will help others avoid being fooled by those fake sites.

[acroman08]

Just curious, did you already have an account on the real Winna.com website? Were you able to log in on the phishing website using your username and password on the real winna.com website, or did you just create an account?

Also, it would be nice if you could include the domain name of the phishing website so people can familiarise themselves with it and know to avoid it.

This is why it is extremely important to at least double check the domain of the website you are accessing. There are a lot of phishing websites out there just waiting for people to be careless and fall for their scam.

[Key_plays2014]

I wasn’t careful enough checking the URL and just assumed it was legit because it showed up in search results. Lesson learned the hard and expensive way.  

Appreciate you pointing that out. Hopefully sharing this helps someone else double-check before depositing anything.  Not just with casinos but with any site in general. Scammers are getting smarter, and it really pays to verify before trusting anything online.

[Key_plays2014]

Just curious, did you already have an account on the real Winna.com website? Were you able to log in on the phishing website using your username and password on the real winna.com website, or did you just create an account?

Also, it would be nice if you could include the domain name of the phishing website so people can familiarise themselves with it and know to avoid it.

This is why it is extremely important to at least double check the domain of the website you are accessing. There are a lot of phishing websites out there just waiting for people to be careless and fall for their scam.

No, I didn’t have my own account on the real site before. My brother in law recommended Winna to me and only showed it to me when I visited him but I never signed up.

When I finally decided to try it on my own, I just searched for it and signed up on the one I found. It honestly didn’t cross my mind that it could be a clone because everything looked normal.

About the URL, I can’t really give it because I don’t want to open that site again (Sorry). I closed it as soon as I realized something was off and I’m not comfortable going back there. I know I probably should’ve saved it, but at that moment I just wanted out.

Definitely learned my lesson about checking the full domain carefully next time.

[ABCbits]

I'm not sure, but it's possible that those scammers bought their way to the top of DuckDuckGo ^{(I'm not sure if it's possible, though, but since it has happened to the OP, then it could be happening on other sites as well)}

If bought means spending money to do SEO manipulation, it's certainly possible. Until this data, some new account keep created to perform SEO spam on this forum. But otherwise, i doubt either DDG or Bing (which is main source of DDG search result[1]) would accept such bribe from scammer.

[1] https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources

[Key_plays2014]

I'm not sure, but it's possible that those scammers bought their way to the top of DuckDuckGo ^{(I'm not sure if it's possible, though, but since it has happened to the OP, then it could be happening on other sites as well)}

If bought means spending money to do SEO manipulation, it's certainly possible. Until this data, some new account keep created to perform SEO spam on this forum. But otherwise, i doubt either DDG or Bing (which is main source of DDG search result[1]) would accept such bribe from scammer.

[1] https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources

I’m not really sure how they managed to rank that high or what happened. I don’t understand the SEO side of things.

Before posting here, I actually tried searching the forum to see if anyone had mentioned something similar, but I didn’t find anything recent. That’s why I decided to post about it, just in case it helps someone else avoid the same mistake.