The latest scam wave pushes more than 1,200 gambling-themed websites. All polished, all completely fake. These sites promise players $2,500 in free credits through promo codes allegedly endorsed by celebs like Mr. Beast. The popular YouTuber recently launched a legit gaming venture called Beast Games but these outfits are just riding his coattails with zero affiliation.

Visitors to sites like gamblerbeast[.]com are lured into setting up accounts to access the promised credit. They’re then allowed to play convincingly built games, such as one where a basketball pro makes free throws for cash, all based on rigged mechanics. Any so-called winnings are fictitious.

The real sting happens when a user tries to cash out. The site promptly demands a “verification deposit” of about $100 in cryptocurrency, claiming it’s needed to release the winnings. After that, surprise surprise, they want even more payments. In reality, there’s no payout, no real game engine behind the scenes and certainly no winnings to claim.

Once the victim realises they’ve been had, the pain doesn’t stop. Fake “recovery experts” soon swarm social media with offers to help get back the lost crypto for another fee.

Threat intel firm Silent Push traced the scam to at least 1,270 active domains. All were linked by the same shady chat API infrastructure and dressed in the same digital paint job. Every site offers free credits, quick wins and vanishing withdrawals.