We Investigated Bitfinexup: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Bitfinexup.xyz website popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly reveals it is, actually, a scam site.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, dependable, and client-friendly service, Bitfinexup.xyz does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Bitfinexup Scam Overview

Originally, Bitfinexup poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this platform is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Bitfinexup Scam

Initially, Bitfinexup repeats the appearance of multiple similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Bitether, Xmarkettrade or Xebito. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive websites are managed by a single team of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Bitfinexup Scam Works?

Bitfinexup is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors boost the visibility of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters 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, frauds claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain a stimulus to register, attracted by the promise of obtaining crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promos, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Bitfinexup”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Bitfinexup, “Start earning with Bitfinexup – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially as the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, rascals 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 mentioned, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have funds on your account. With Bitfinexup, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money 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 engaging on this site hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the money 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 have 0 intentions to give your money back. But to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but for the Bitfinexup.xyz they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal information, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous 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 Bitfinexup.xyz. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Bitfinexup 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%, Bitfinexup exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Bitfinexup as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Bitfinexup 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. Bitfinexup.xyz 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. Bitfinexup 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 Bitfinexup 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 get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto funds. As we already figured out, these rascals have no intent of giving back your funds. So, what can these email messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another component of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious software onto your computer.

Both plugins and files included to emails can act as a shell for various malware. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to give up and strive to maximize gains.

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