Bitcy.biz: The Latest Ponzi Scheme to Target Bitcoin Users

You've probably heard the phrase Ponzi scheme or HYIP (high yield investment plan) scam before. In simple terms, this kind of scam works on the following basic principles:

1. It offers unrealistic returns, usually doubling or tripling investments in a very short time  
2. They try to spread through affiliate marketing  
3. They use the phrase 'guaranteed profits'  
4. Deposits cannot be withdrawn for a set amount of time  
5. They do not reveal who is operating the scam or put up fake information about who is behind it  
6. At first, they will appear to pay out as promised, but once a certain threshold is met, the site will disappear along with all invested capital.

Let's go over these one by one, and we'll see if Bitcy.biz is truly a Ponzi scheme.

1. It offers unrealistic returns, usually doubling or tripling investments in a very short time

Bitcy claims to be an automated currency trading platform. There is no evidence to support this, but typically Ponzi schemes will claim to have some kind of magic, infallible money making method that always works and is always profitable. bitpetite.com says they make profit with "coin mixing", BitConnect claims to make money via lending, and laser.online claims they make money with... lasers.

The point is, this part doesn't matter. They can claim almost anything. Let's see how the payout structure supposedly works.

Let's go over this for a moment. A 2.3% daily return would mean that a $100 deposit would be worth $102.30 in 24 hours and $207 in a month. Essentially, it's promising to double your money every month, which is completely ridiculous and totally unsustainable.

The numbers only get more unrealistic the furthur you go down the chain, ending at a maximum of 7000% return after 100 days. This again would mean a $100 deposit would become $7000 in just over three months. Again, this is impossible and unrealistic.

So is Bitcy.biz offering unrealistic returns, in a very short time? Yes.

2. They try to spread through affiliate marketing

Bitcy.biz has a complex affiliate marketing program that claims to reward people who lure others into the trap. The reward is usually a percentage of the deposits the victims give.

According to the official explainer video they posted to YouTube, this can range from anywhere from 1% to 10% once you become a "regional manager" for the program.

Are they using affiliate marketing to spread? Oh yes, they are.

3. They use the phrase ‘guaranteed profits’

I didn't see the phrase on their website, but it is in their explainer video.

This one is easy. It quite literally says guaranteed profits.

4. Deposits cannot be withdrawn for a set amount of time

Referring back to the investment options, you'll notice they all have a set time limit. During this time, funds cannot be withdrawn. The reason for this is to prevent users from suddenly trying to pull all the money out of the program causing it to crash early.

Even with their so-called hourly program, a lock down time of 1440 hours is required. That's 60 days.

Instituting these delays ensures a steady stream of capital so that they can continue to make some payouts and appear to be legitimate for as long as possible.

Are deposits restricted based on a length of time? Absolutely.

5. They do not reveal who is operating the scam or put up fake information about who is behind it

Bitcy.biz was registered with WHOIS on August 21st and the site went live sometime later. The registration was done under an anonymizing service so that we can't tell who really owns the site.

The about us page uses fake names and fake photos. The photos are of real people but they are obviously misappropriated or stolen. You will notice that the pictures have undergone an image filter that prevents them from appearing in a Google image search. The names are fake as well.

The company also claims to be at an address in London's high end New Bond Street. The address turns out to be that of a clothing store called Miu Miu.

We have no idea who is behind Bitcy. They are making great efforts to conceal who they are. This one is also a big, emphatic yes.

6. At first, they will appear to pay out as promised, but once a certain threshold is met, the site will disappear along with all invested capital.

The company has an official Telegram page. In it, people seem to be posting evidence that they are receiving payouts. However, this could easily be faked as making Telegram accounts is easy.

The moderator account for the channel posted this:

In other words, don't say anything negative about the program, or you will be banned. 

Are they really paying out? With these programs it's almost impossible to tell. The affiliate programs make it nearly impossible to find honest testimonials. Every post you will find saying someone made tons of profits will also include an affiliate link, making the post biased and most likely false.

As the website is still up, we can't safely declare #6 as being absolutely true. However, based on all the other tell tale signs of this being a classic Ponzi scheme, it is just a matter of time until this crashes and capital is lost forever.