In Focus

Unitree Investment Scam Website Gets Wings Clipped as Google Safe Browsing Labels It Unsafe

The rise of online investment scams continues to plague internet users in South Africa, and Unitree Investment has become the latest platform to be exposed for its deceitful practices.

The website, unitreefund.cc, has been flagged as unsafe by Google Safe Browsing, a move that highlights its fraudulent nature and serves as a warning to potential victims. This is only half the story, however, as a second domain, unitreefund.com, remains active, continuing the scam under the guise of legitimacy.

Too Good to Be True: The Unitree Investment Scheme

Unitree Investment advertises itself as a revolutionary platform, offering lucrative daily returns with little to no risk. The website showcases an enticing lineup of “investment packages” featuring robotic dog imagery and promises of quick payouts.

For instance:

  • Unitree Aliengo-Day claims to offer R300 total revenue for a R200 investment in just 24 hours.
  • Unitree B1-Day promises R750 total revenue for a R500 investment within a day.
  • Unitree B2-Day boasts an unrealistic R1,500 return on a R1,000 investment.

The platform extends these offers over longer periods, claiming that users could earn as much as R15,000 from a R1,000 investment over 50 days. Such promises are hallmarks of Ponzi schemes, designed to lure unsuspecting individuals with guaranteed, sky-high returns that defy basic financial principles.

A Two-Domain Deception: unitreefund.cc and unitreefund.com

A notable feature of these scams is the use of multiple domains to evade detection and sustain operations even after one link is flagged or blocked. In this case, unitreefund.cc is the domain that Google Safe Browsing has clipped, but its counterpart, unitreefund.com, remains active.

Both domains were registered on 1 January 2025, indicating that the scammers likely anticipated the need for a fallback option. This strategy of using dual domains is increasingly common in online scams targeting South Africans, allowing fraudsters to maintain their operations by redirecting victims to alternate links if one is exposed.

Passing Off as a Legitimate Company

The Unitree Investment scam is particularly insidious because of its attempt to pass itself off as being associated with Unitree Robotics, a legitimate robotics company headquartered in Hangzhou, China. Unitree Robotics is well known for its innovative robotic solutions, including robotic dogs like the Unitree Aliengo.

By making the “product” of their scam robotic devices, the perpetrators leverage the credibility and reputation of Unitree Robotics to mislead potential victims into believing their operation is legitimate.

This tactic is part of a growing trend in scams targeting South Africans over the past year. These scams often position themselves as representatives or affiliates of legitimate foreign companies, predominantly based in the United States, the United Kingdom, or, in this case, China.

By riding on the coattails of reputable brands, these schemes manage to establish a false sense of legitimacy, making it easier to deceive unsuspecting investors.

Marketing the Fraud: Facebook Groups and Personal Networks

At this stage, Unitree Investment is primarily marketing itself online, targeting unsuspecting victims through Facebook and TikTok.

On Facebook, the scammers establish pages and groups under the same name to create an appearance of legitimacy. These groups and pages are often populated with testimonials, payment screenshots, and discussions meant to lure new recruits.

Additionally, the early adopters — individuals who hope to cash in quickly — are actively promoting the scam on their personal profiles and within groups focused on South African personal finance, side hustles, and online income opportunities.

The scam also infiltrates pages and groups of defunct scams, taking advantage of pre-existing audiences already familiar with similar schemes. This strategic approach allows the scam to spread organically within communities where such opportunities are actively sought.

On TikTok, videos amplify the scam’s visibility using trending music and eye-catching visuals, further enticing potential victims. This dual-platform strategy ensures the scam reaches a broad audience, leveraging the trust and connections found within social media networks.

Google Safe Browsing and Browser Alerts

Google Safe Browsing’s action against unitreefund.cc is a significant step in exposing this fraudulent platform. Users attempting to access the site via Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Brave, and other popular browsers are now greeted with a stark warning:

“Dangerous site

Attackers on the site that you tried visiting might install harmful software that steals or deletes things like your passwords, photos, messages, or credit card numbers. Chrome strongly recommends going back to safety.”

This warning effectively discourages most users from proceeding further, significantly reducing the scam’s reach. However, the presence of the secondary domain, unitreefund.com, demonstrates the scam’s adaptability and persistence, emphasising the need for vigilance and thorough reporting of all associated domains.

Unregistered and Unauthorised to Operate

Unitree Investment is not registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa, nor is it an authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP).

This makes it explicitly illegal for the platform to handle people’s deposits as investments. The lack of FSCA registration is a clear indicator that the platform is operating outside the bounds of legal and regulated investment practices.

A search of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) reveals that no company named “Unitree Fund” is registered in South Africa. The only registered entity resembling this name is UNITREE EDUCATION AND TRAINING, which was registered in 2024.

However, there appears thus far to be no connection between this entity and the Unitree Investment scam. Importantly, the scam has not attempted to associate itself with UNITREE EDUCATION AND TRAINING or any other registered entities with similar names.

With no FSCA registration or FSP licence, no CIPC registration as “Unitree Fund,” and no claimed association with other registered entities of a similar name, the scam’s fraudulent nature is clear.

The Final Verdict

The exposure of unitreefund.cc as a scam and its subsequent flagging by Google Safe Browsing is a victory for online safety. However, the continued operation of unitreefund.com demonstrates the adaptability and persistence of cybercriminals.

The browser warnings across multiple platforms, the lack of FSCA registration, the absence of a CIPC-registered entity under “Unitree Fund,” and no claimed association with legitimate entities of similar names, combined with its marketing strategies infiltrating Facebook groups and defunct scam pages, make the scam’s fraudulent nature undeniable.

The Unitree Investment scheme is still unfolding, but its collapse will likely mark the end of yet another fraudulent operation. Stay informed, scrutinise all online opportunities, and remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

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