How to check if a bank is legit

Question

I would like to check if an online bank is legit. It is a Astroibank. I cannot find anything online and I have some money that was supposed to have been sent there. The bank is asking me to pay a lot of money for a COT code but to a bitcoin wallet. I am not sure about the bank. Does anyone know of it or how to check it?

Answer 1

• There is no legitimate reason for anyone to send money to you at a bank you don't have an account at
• There is no legitimate bank that is going to ask you to pay money in order to access money you have there. They might charge a fee for the transfer but that would come out of the transferred funds.
• No legitimate bank is going to ask you to make payments to a bitcoin wallet

You could certainly spend time and effort looking up a bank with the regulators of whatever country the bank operates in. And if there is a legitimate bank by that name, then spend time and effort trying to determine whether the people you're talking to actually associated with that legitimate bank. But given the hallmarks of a scam, it isn't worth the effort.

Answer 2

I just Googled "COT code", and you probably won't like it.

The C.O.T. code stands for Cost of Transfer, which is allegedly needed to complete questionable international wire transfers, but please be wary, as this is most likely a scam.

Answer 3

The most simplest way to check if a bank is legit, is to search your governments directory of registered banks.

For example;

1. Hong Kong's Government's list of registered/licensed banks
2. India's official list of registered/licensed banks

These can be easily found with a google search like "India list of registered banks", and find the government supplied site

Another effective way to find out if a bank is legit is look for mistakes in English/spelling/grammar. Often these fake sites are made in a rush by non-native speakers of English. Plus, real banks will invest a lot of money in making sure that their English is flawless. (Applies to other languages as well, e.g. if your bank language is Spanish, French etc etc)

Answer 4

All banks have a substantial online presence.

Also all banks must be registered. For example, here is the list of banks and financial institutions in my country.

If either of the above are not true then the "bank" is unquestionably a scam.