The Afowx Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Afowx.com website surfaced, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably reveals it is, in truth, a fraudulent service.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Afowx.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Afowx Scam Overview

Originally, Afowx poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Afowx Scam

Initially, Afowx shares the appearance of numerous similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Exmone, Exgigs or Bytesi. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these scam websites are led by a single team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Afowx Scam Works?

Afowx is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another shared element are the ways the scams like NAME are promoted, and the manner all this ends up to the victim of the scam. To reach peak efficiency, frauds apply advanced psychological tricks that make the user believe in the legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), fraud actors increase the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

Promotions of cryptoscams like Afowx in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an incentive to sign up, attracted by the promise of getting cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To augment the appeal of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Afowx”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Afowx, “Start earning with Afowx – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal data, swindrels will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the promised bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require having money on your account. With Afowx, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited money and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that scoundrels are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal info, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And every check will reveal more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed on the Darknet. Never reveal your real info to strangers!

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Afowx.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Afowx.com insists on cryptocurrency payments exclusively, excluding conventional methods like bank transfers. This strategy ensures anonymity for the scam and eliminates any possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Credentials. Afowx arouses suspicion by failing to provide critical information about ownership, location, and legal registration. The lack of valid contact details and the recent creation of domain and social media profiles cast doubt on its legitimacy.
• Baseless Hype Generation. Afowx resorts to fabricating non-existent achievements, such as contracts with Coinbase or endorsements from Elon Musk, to manipulate emotions and enhance the perception of potential returns, enticing victims to invest more.
• Fictitious Celebrity Association. Afowx employs a deceptive tactic by falsely associating itself with well-known figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, the scam falsely claims partnerships with established entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask to bolster its false credibility.
• Potential Ponzi-Like Model. The scam operates on a pyramid-style referral system disseminated through social media, benefiting only initial participants and relying on later investments to sustain the illusion.
• Unrealistic Profit Promises. Promising improbable returns of 50-100-200%, Afowx capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Afowx.com as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Afowx site and fell victim to that scam, there are still some steps to take. They will make further scam attempts harder, and also boost the knowledge about that scam among folks.

• Report the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

Scan your system for possible malware infections

Beware of cross scams! Scam actors can use your trust to make you download some stuff or interact with certain documents. It may be a trap that installs malware to your system. There are no moral barriers or limits for these scoundrels.

Throughout the duration of the scam, its actors may reach out to you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no plan of returning your capital. So, what can these emails and browser extensions represent? Correct – this is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive software onto your system.

Both plugins and files attached to emails can function as a carrier for various malicious software. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As stated, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to give up and strive to maximize gains.

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