Introduction
Hello and welcome, with the increase in hype revolving around Cryptocurrency since December of 2017 their has been a significant increase in the demand for cloud mining. It also has lead the increase in scam cloud mining sites. (Hashperium,Fflakming, Youhash,Elderhash, and many more) With more and more people coming to Cryptocurrency with little to no research many of them fall victim to such sites. In this post I will be discussing key features that a site has that gives away that it is a scam cloud mining site based on my experiences.
Site Promises'
In most recent scam sites it makes bold claims about how you will make fast money. How the site is made for "you" to make money and that "your" best interests are on the top of their priority. The site shows this by "giving" usually 100-135 free GH/s for signing up on their site. The site might also say how much profit you make daily. Example from Hashperium (https://gyazo.com/24fdd1f4fa162a8f35829394682bf172) but the problem is that with cryptocurrency (Bitcoin in this cloud mining site's case) is that the price of it changes everyday. So in order for the site to make your daily percent it would have to mine more or less (depending if price is going down or up) to meet that goal which is simply impossible to do without increase your Gh/s for mining.
Site Layout + Mining
Most cloud mining sites have a simple basic layout similar to this (screenshot from Hashperium https://gyazo.com/52a9df170f17b0539dd2e842772ab07c) on other sites they can be at the top of the screen or in boxes. Scam sites only use bare bone to get the site to look professional all the scam sites I have seen thus far have this only on their site (https://gyazo.com/35718e5208b1136fa2cb0401aba9a2fb.)
Site Referral System
These scam sites want more people so that they can get more money. So in the referral system they will offer you more GH/s for each additional user that pays, Allow you to withdrawal from your account (if you haven't deposited)if a referral deposits, and have a referral level system so the more people you that you refer the more money you get from them. On some sites their affiliate program will be very vague as to how you advance to the next tier in their system. Which causes users to send their referral link to everyone they know and/or post their referral link on other forums such as Youtube or Facebook.
Site Withdrawals + Reinvest in Hash Power
The site doesn't want to hand out anymore money than it needs to. For some of the beginning users who deposit it will pay them out as it will be giving their deposit back for the most part. But as for the free users who do the math and figure out that by X number of days they will be able to withdraw. The site will counter this by saying how you have to deposit in order to withdraw although they have our best interests in mind. Some sites also offer a Reinvest in Hash Power. When sites do have this feature it is often that their is a minimum amount set in place in order for you to reinvest (usually higher than the minimum withdrawal amount) it also most likely wont allow you to even invest it and they will ask for you to deposit or have a referral deposit instead (https://gyazo.com/8e9efd326452eddd9ab06dbe7816c7e7.)
Site Support + F.A.Q.
Regarding the site support's system it mostly offers 24/7 email support (they never respond to my emails),support by mail to an address in London (you have to leave your email address in the mail as they will "email" you their response), and lastly you can ask them question on their Facebook page that only ever has one post. Screenshot from Hashperium (https://gyazo.com/8780307db256fb5fc75d491c74820e6d,)The F.A.Q. like its layout is bare bone only telling the users how to pay them, when can I withdraw, and minimum deposit. Example from Youhash ((https://gyazo.com/b44812efa098433dd7df111afccdefb2) The site will never have questions explaining why we don't know who is in charge of the site as well as proof of them having the rigs mining the Cryptocurrency.
Site Longevity
These sites usually last two and a half weeks. If a site has only been up for a few days or weeks be very skeptical of its legitimacy. As you may see people get paid from the site it is only being done in order to convince other users who are on the border of investing into the site to give the user the push into investing and ultimately scamming them.
Other Forums
Websites like Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, and even Steemit can have users promting scam cloud mining sites. With Reddit and Steemit the posts titles will be promoting "Site Name is it a scam or legit" then once you read the article it is a post simply talking about the site's functions and promoting their referral link to the site with no review proving or disproving the legitimacy of the site. On Facebook the site makes an account and a group with the site promoting itself with only one post announcing the site going up and then being spammed by users trolling because they know the site is a scam. As for Youtube videos most of the videos that are done by the users for these scam sites are looking for a quick buck from some sucker on the internet. These videos have a basic intro, no facecam or audio for the video, and only show them making an account and showing the functions of the site. Then the video ends with promoting their referral link so you can "Make easy money."
Question of the post
Is the Stock market and its decrease in the DOW points affecting the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? Why or why not?
Please leave any positive/negative feedback as I strive to better my work.