We Looked at the Evidence: Is Bitonexa Legit or Scam?

Recently, Bitonexa.com service appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably indicates it is, in truth, a fraudulent platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, dependable, and client-friendly service, Bitonexa.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Bitonexa Scam Overview

Originally, Bitonexa poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors employ deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Bitonexa Scam

Initially, Bitonexa repeats the design of many similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Osvipcoin, Bitmezon or Fsvipcoin. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these scam websites are operated by the same gang of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Bitonexa Scam Works?

Bitonexa is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous 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 sophisticated psychological tricks that make the user believe in the validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Using bots and paid promotions (when feasible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users get a stimulus to register, drawn by the commitment of receiving crypto rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. 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 attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Bitonexa”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Bitonexa, “Start earning with Bitonexa – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially as the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up 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 where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, frauds bait folks into registration for bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info 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 claimed bonus right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to 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 crypto operations require having funds on your account. In the case of Bitonexa, 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 participating on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When comparing the real cryptocurrency 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

Needless to say that swindlers are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, deceivers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will uncover more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then sold 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 Bitonexa.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Bitonexa does not provide any documentation about its ownership, location or registration. No legitimate contact details are given either. Moreover, it appears that the domain and all social network pages were registered quite recently.
• Fake sponsorship from a celebrity. Scams like Bitonexa like to pick a celebrity as a sponsor of this entire campaign. For obvious reasons, fraudsters generally choose Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, Mark Zuckerberg, and similar celebrities. They do not disdain claiming partnership with a company as well. Even though Coinbase, Binance or MetaMask never heard of Bitonexa, they do not care – this creates a halo of credibility.
• Potential Ponzi Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral system to spread reach through social media. In fact, only the first members will receive the payoff, at the cost of the money brought by other members.
• Hype without facts. Frauds can cheer up their victims from time to time, using claims about non-existent events. “We got contracts with Coinbase”, “Elon Musk mentioned us as the most prolific crypto project” – you could likely hear something like that. This is made to make people believe in their money return. This can be the sauce to make people top-up their accounts once again.
• Crypto-only incoming payments. Whether the user tries to top-up the account, hackers will only accept payments in crypto – no bank transfers or other payment methods. Such an approach completely hides the identity of the company and deprives you of the ability to ask for a refund.
• Claims are too good to be true. Let’s be sane and sober: even in crypto space, there are not many places where you can earn 50-100-200%. Being able to participate in all of them is nearly impossible, as well as it is impossible to insure or hedge all the risks. Even by that reason alone I can tell that the Bitonexa is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Bitonexa 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.

• Secure Your Actions. Begin by promptly reporting the scam to appropriate local authorities tasked with handling financial fraud. Notify wallet providers and engage with social networks’ technical support teams. By taking these measures, you contribute to making the scammers’ operations significantly more difficult.
• Expand Awareness. Extend your efforts by sharing the scam information with your close friends. This action has a parallel effect to reporting to the authorities, as disseminating details about fraudulent crypto services reduces the potential victims they can deceive.
• Gather Evidence. Preserve comprehensive evidence by capturing screenshots and saving all pertinent data linked to the deceptive website. Collect the URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials could prove invaluable for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments generally fall outside the scope of refund policies within most banks, it’s worth investigating the potential for a refund in specific circumstances. Maintain optimism until you definitively confirm the loss.
• Convert Mistake into Wisdom. Transform your financial setback into a valuable learning experience. Treat your loss as an investment in understanding the tactics of crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their key characteristics, how they lure individuals, and the grandiose promises they make. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be well-equipped to recognize and avoid falling into future traps without incurring further losses.

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 timeline of the fraud, fraudsters may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we already determined, these scammers have no intention of giving back your money. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – that is another side of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful software onto your device.

Both extensions and attachments added to emails can act as a carrier for different malicious software. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As previously mentioned, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no principles to give up and intend to maximize gains.

Remove spyware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

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