Recently, Bitexcost.com website appeared, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a scam service.
Contrary to the claims of Bitexcost.com, they won’t ever refund your money. Despite the numbers displayed in the “member area”, there is no means to withdraw even a single cent. All pledges regarding crypto rewards are hollow as well.
Bitexcost Scam Overview
The primary service that Bitexcost attempts to provide is a safe and convenient cryptocurrency wallet service. The website pledges crypto exchange facilities, tools for managing wallets, transfers, dashboards, and similar stuff. In truth, they aim to emulate the functionality of a crypto marketplace, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it in fact solely serves as a cover needed to lull the vigilance.
Initially, Bitexcost mimics the layout of numerous similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Yaobitc, Wetarex or Ternbit. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these fraudulent online platforms are managed by the same gang of scoundrels.
Cryptocurrency Scam Summary
| Website | Bitexcost.com |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 188.114.97.3 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent offers of cryptocurrency services |
How the Bitexcost Scam Works?
Bitexcost is yet another online platform within a vast network of linked crypto deceptive sites. The operators employ various brand titles and websites, like Bitexcost.com, to ensnare victims. However, these deceptive websites possess identical designs, terms of service, and About Us content. This reveals their sources as components of the same scam network, which promotes the same mode of fraud under different covers. The fraudsters just duplicate the identical scam website under various names to fool users into believing they are joining a new platform. However, in actuality, it’s the equal group of fraudsters orchestrating the deceptive promises and attempts to seize deposited money. The managers shrewdly make use of psychological tactics and appealing propositions to implement their dishonest plots.
Step 1: Spreading
To start the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Employing bots and paid advertisements (when feasible), scam actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to possible victims. This approach enables them to create a broad net and connect with their focused spectators. This group usually comprises of cryptocurrency fans searching for chances to make profits.
Users receive an incentive to register, enticed by the promise of getting crypto benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To increase the appeal of the offer, false suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.
Step 2: Gaining Traffic
Users who show interest check out Bitexcost.com via links present in ads or robotic posts. The webpage utilizes captivating visuals, design aspects that appear legitimate, and assertions of holding a legitimate license, all designed to project an initial perception of reliability.
Step 3: Data Gathering
To claim their prizes, users must deliberately sign up on Bitexcost and receive prompts to provide sensitive and personal information throughout the registration process. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, providing email addresses, giving phone numbers, furnishing identification papers, and the like.
Step 4: Requesting funds
Once signed up, users notice significant amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at hundreds of dollars, within their Bitexcost wallets. However, as it usually happens with such incentives, you cannot withdraw them prior to topping up your account. Usually, a deposit of $100 is asked to withdraw the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the trap that ultimately culminates to the money loss.
Step 5: Disappear
The moment the deposit is sent, the fraudsters terminate all interaction. They go ahead to bar users, remove accounts, and vanish with both the submitted funds and critical individual data. The fictitious benefits remain perpetually uncredited, as they lack genuine existence. They act exclusively as a phishing ploy. This method forms the foundation for the fraudsters’ capability to trick victims and embezzle hard-earned money through their duplicative internet-based crypto scam.
Signs of Scam
I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Bitexcost.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.
- Unsubstantiated Credibility. Bitexcost employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
- Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, Bitexcost exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Bitexcost as a scam.
- Dubious Corporate Information. Bitexcost arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
- Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Bitexcost.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
- Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
- Groundless Hype Tactics. Bitexcost utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.
What Should I do as a Victim?
If you had to deal with Bitexcost 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 course of the fraud, its masters may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto funds. As we already figured out, these deceivers have no intent of giving back your money. So, what can these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – that is another component of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately running harmful software onto your device.
Both plugins and attachments attached to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As noted, their morality is of no concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to lose and aim to maximize profits.
Frequently asked questions
- Contact your bank or card provider and ask about chargeback options.
- Save screenshots, receipts, tracking numbers, and emails as evidence.
- Change reused passwords and enable two-factor authentication on important accounts.
- Watch for follow-up phishing emails pretending to offer refunds or delivery updates.
