I’ve been making quite a bit of money from this method, and it works almost every time. If scammers have a website, such as a fake forex or crypto trading site, I start by performing a hosting check to see which company is hosting their site. If they’re using a service like Cloudflare for reverse DNS or if the hosting is based in China, it’s usually a dead end. However, if they’re using a reputable hosting company, you can move forward with shutting down their site—and possibly get paid in the process.
Here’s how it works: as soon as you identify the website they’re promoting, do a hosting check to determine who’s hosting it. There are plenty of websites that offer these services. Once you know the host, submit an abuse report, including screenshots and a detailed explanation of the scam. After submitting the report, contact the scammer—usually through WhatsApp—and tell them you’re a hacker. Let them know that if they don’t pay you, you’ll take down their website within 24-48 hours. Make it clear that if you do end up shutting down their site, the payment they owe you will double. Many scammers won’t pay you upfront; they’ll wait until their site is taken down and then start pleading with you to restore it. At that point, you can demand a modest fee, typically between $200 and $300. Demand payment in Crypto.
Of course, you don’t actually have the ability to restore the site once it’s been disabled, but they don’t know that. This approach tends to work about half the time.