Cryptotab: Scam or not?

What’s CryptoTab

2 months ago I started testing out CryptoTab. They offer multiple Bitcoin-related services, but the main thing I tested is their browser based on Chromium with built-in mining. It comes with a built-in mining algorithm that allows anyone to mine Bitcoin without expensive hardware or technical knowledge. They have clients available for Windows, Android and iOS. I’ve tried Cryptotab for Android and it works just like Chromium – the difference is that while you browse it uses some background CPU resources to mine – barely noticeable while browsing. Stopped using it quickly after because it didn’t feel like helping, however I did keep the referral invite links on the posts I added about CryptoTab.

Suspended CryptoTab account

In these past 2 months, several dozen users referred by me signed up with CryptoTab and used it on and off I guess. Overall I’d say at any time there were 20-40 active miners, meaning people using CryptoTab to mine. From what they gained I earned the equivalent of around $2.5 in total in these 2 months. So a very very low income, but still, I wasn’t doing anything so kept it going. Now comes the fun part though. I wanted to check yesterday to see what tremendous amount gathered up so I could buy a Lamborghini before Christmas, but guess what, I couldn’t access my “fortune” of $3.5 because my CryptoTab account was suspended with this reason:

Your Account is Blocked: Your account was blocked due to a violation of our Terms of Use or distribution methods. If you believe your account is blocked by mistake please contact our support team.

So evidently it got me curious. Not because I cared too much about those $2, but I knew that I didn’t do anything illegal. So I sent support an email and got this reply (on Friday the 13th, boy that’s bad luck):

John commented:

Hello,

Our system has detected some suspicious user names and a big number of requests sent through your device, so your account has been blocked.

CryptoTab Support Team

Now here comes the interesting part, because I had uninstalled CryptoTab from my device in October, and only kept the referral links from my posts:

• CryptoTab was not installed on my device anymore, so how come it could send a big number of requests?
• Furthermore, they said “suspicious user names”, but again CryptoTab was not on my device anymore. Could he have meant that the referrals I invited created strange usernames that looked suspicious? If so, what would that have to do with me?

Is Cryptotab a Scam?

A lot of questions, so obviously I replied back soon after. I haven’t received any more replies from them, detailing why was my account suspended, so with this occasion I did remove the invite links and consider them at least suspicious. Is it CryptoTab scam or not? I’ll let you judge this, but I did search myself for this question and got a lot of interesting reviews on other websites such as TrustPilot.

So on Trustpilot, CryptoTab has a review of 1.7 out of 5, with a staggering number of users giving it a 1-star. I’ll just quote one of the most relevant quotes that shows in there:

100% FRAUD…

Cryptotab lite browser is now 100% FRAUD. Make about 2 withdrawals in the free mode and I was encouraged to subscribe to the boost by investing. Since I invested I have placed withdrawal more than 5 times since almost 4 months now but no single payment.

Withdrawal is eternally “awaiting confirmation” what a big FRAAAAD!

STAY AWAY FROM THEM IN YOUR OWN INTEREST.

Date of experience: September 10, 2024

You can read all the reviews on TrustPilot: CryptoTab Scam Reviews on TrustPilot

However, their CryptoTab app for Android is still listed on Google Play and actually has a very high rating of 4.5 out of 5. I did find someone complaining about it on Google Play’s Help section, with 45+ users having the exact same issue (i.e. he mentioned that “CryptoTab Browser APP is a SCAM should be investigated”):

What’s relevant here is that 45+ others said they have the same issue, and someone said that the app is being investigated – the reply was in September 2024, but as of December 2024 the app is still live so I guess Google didn’t find anything troubling.

Lastly, I did check my favourite social community, Reddit, for clues on what others say about CryptoTab. I did find a post from 2024 with more than 70 replies, where most of the commenters complained that while CryptoTab was ok in the past, it turned up blocking a large number of payments and other issues. I recommend reading the full Reddit post here: CryptoTab is not what it used to be

Oh and I did like this guy’s video review on YouTube about CryptoTab, basically saying the same thing that they were ok but in the end they stopped paying (after complaining about this on YouTube his payment was actually unlocked, but he kept the same conclusion valid, to stay away from CryptoTab):