BEFENO Reviewed: Real Deal or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Befeno.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly indicates it is, in fact, a fraudulent site.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Befeno.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

BEFENO Scam Overview

Originally, BEFENO poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this site is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals employ AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the fraud as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

BEFENO Scam

First and foremost, BEFENO copies the layout of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Livaxxen, Lcdww or Cryptohub. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Probably, all these scam online platforms are managed by a single team of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the BEFENO Scam Works?

BEFENO is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another common 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 sophisticated 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 start the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors increase the exposure of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities that promote 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 BEFENO in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an encouragement to enroll, enticed by the promise of getting cryptocurrency rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To augment the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with BEFENO”, “Your crypto savings are secured with BEFENO, “Start earning with BEFENO – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the bonus 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 information, frauds will not be able to 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 said, scammers bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency operations require having money on your account. In the case of BEFENO, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent website. 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 capital and withdraw them.

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

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers have 0 intentions to send you money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Befeno.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal info, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded 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 Befeno.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. BEFENO often resorts to fake endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. This fraudulent tactic extends to claiming partnerships with reputable companies like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite lacking any genuine affiliations.
• Cryptocurrency-Only Payments. Befeno.com exclusively accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, rejecting traditional bank transfers and other methods. This approach not only masks the company’s identity but also eliminates the possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Information. BEFENO raises suspicion by withholding essential ownership, location, and registration details. Furthermore, the absence of legitimate contact information and the recent establishment of domain and social media pages intensify skepticism.
• Unsubstantiated Hype. Befeno.com employs groundless hype tactics, fabricating events like securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. These manipulative techniques aim to instill false confidence and encourage further investments.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme, leveraging a referral system spread through social media. However, only initial participants benefit, often at the expense of subsequent investors.
• Implausible Claims. Promising returns of 50-100-200%, BEFENO preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling BEFENO as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with BEFENO 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 to Authorities. Your initial action should involve reporting the scam to local authorities responsible for addressing financial fraud. Additionally, reach out to wallet providers and engage with the technical support teams of social networks. This collective effort raises the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Inform Your Inner Circle. Extend your impact by sharing information about the scam with your close friends. Similar to notifying authorities, this dissemination of details curbs the scammers’ potential to deceive.
• Document the Trail. Assemble a comprehensive record by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. This encompasses the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials offer invaluable leads for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments may not typically align with traditional bank refund policies, it’s worthwhile to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain a positive outlook until you secure confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Insight. Shift your focus from the financial loss to gaining wisdom. Consider your loss as an investment in comprehending the tactics employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their distinctive traits, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant pledges they make. This knowledge equips you to recognize and avoid future traps, minimizing the risk of enduring further financial setbacks.

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 course of the fraud, fraudsters may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we already determined, these scoundrels have no plan of returning your money. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another component of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately running malicious software onto your device.

Both extensions and files attached to email messages can serve as a carrier for different malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As previously mentioned, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to lose and strive to boost revenues.

Frequently asked questions