Is ltcminer.com a scam?

While researching for another free crypto offer this week I came across ltcminer.com, through someone's reference somewhere along the way (I don't remember where, hopefully not publish0x after what I found out).

Ltcminer.com promises a constant faucet with a counter which lets you watch your wallet grow.

After only a couple of days of "mining," let's be honest it's a faucet, I had racked up 0.002 of a LTC (Litecoin). I'd also successfully withdrawn $0.02 worth of LTC, albeit once a day and only 0.00006 LTC per withdraw.

So I then noticed they offer "upgrades" to supercharge your "mining" activities. They offer 4 versions of paid "mining," costing upwards of 3LTC and promising the moon in return. Red flag! So I did some snooping on their transaction list.

Within the last 6 minutes there were dozens of payouts at 0.00006 LTC on what they call "mining ver 1.0" and only 2 using what they dub ver 1.1. So I tracked these wallets, one gave to the other and each are actively paying out 0.00006 increments to wallet addresses "mining" on their site.

Not only that, but they're caught in their own withdrawal limit lie, the same 1.1 (which they claim has a withdrawal limit, only 1.4 has no limit) withdrew within minutes according to their lists.

It's a circular payment scheme, to provide false "proofs" that the paid versions will actually pay you, when in reality it's most likely the website runners spoofing addresses to dupe unaware noobs.

Proven by their own postings of payouts linked to Block Cypher to track payments in and out, the two 1.1 addresses shifted .001 LTC back and forth in order to payout .00006 increments and provide "proof" the upgrades work, when in reality they will most likely pocket your LTC and disable your account.

So, is ltcminer.com a scam?

If you only want to withdraw $0.01 at a time from a faucet once a day, netting $3.65 per year then not so much.

But if you withdraw a few days and think "maybe I'll invest some LTC, they seem to be paying out" then I think you're running a huge risk of losing your LTC and never being allowed to withdraw it ever again. The entire upgrade system seems to be like a Ponzi scheme. 

Therefore ltcminer.com is declared a SCAM by FreeCryptoGuy.

Update: After consideration, and having gotten $0.03 in LTC from possibly ill-gotten gains, I've decided to burn these $0.03 to a dead wallet.

If anyone has ever paid for an upgrade I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments section, good or bad experience please share it.

• This article represents my opinion, as always do your own due diligence and don't be duped. I am not a financial advisor and this is not financial advice. Always do your own research before investing, especially in free crypto offers.