Online users, the Bitcoin lottery called BitLottery located at www.bitlottery.xyz, which claims participants can win Bitcoins with their CPUs, in my opinion, is a scheme being used to persuade millions of gullible online users into using their computers to mine Bitcoins. The people behind the scheme persuade online users into installing a Chrome Extension that silently uses their computers' processing time to mine Bitcoins. The same people behind the so-called lottery will earn a lot of money from the mining operations, and a few random participants may get paid.
BitLottery at www.bitlottery.xyz
A Chrome extension that rewards CPU usage with a chance to win Bitcoin. Win Bitcoin with your CPU.
Since it is very expensive and time-consuming to mine Bitcoin, techy savvy people realized that they can use the collective processing power of individual computers worldwide to do it. The hardware to process Bitcoins is very expensive, a big area is needed to store the hardware, and a lot of cooling is needed to prevent the hardware from overheating. This includes buying very expensive cooling systems.
Now, with the very expensive hardware comes a very big electricity bill because a lot of electricity is needed to power the hardware and the cooling system.
Using individual computers around the world to mine Bitcoin is very cheap because no setup and maintenance are required, there no need to rent space for the hardware, and there is no need to pay for electricity and other utilities. And, doing lotteries where only a few persons will earn money from Bitcoin mining makes it very profitable for the people operating them, and not the participants.
We have seen cybercriminals do something similar to BitLottery. But, instead of creating a lottery, the cybercriminals trick online users into installing Bitcoin mining malware or malicious Chrome Extensions, which silently uses their computer or mobile device processing or CPU power. This slows down the victims' computers or mobile devices and drains their laptop computer and mobile device batteries very quickly.
Remember, no one knows where BitLottery is located and who is operating it. So, why install an app or Chrome Extension that you have no idea who created it and what it is doing when it is running on your computer. It could steal your information or spy on you. You just do not know. Plus, it is using a ".xyz" domain name, which is being abused by cybercriminals, who are creating fake websites to trick online users into sending them their personal and financial information.