We Investigated Btcxxc: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Btcxxc.com service popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably reveals it is, in fact, a deceptive site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and customer-centric service, Btcxxc.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Btcxxc Scam Overview

Originally, Btcxxc poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this site is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors use deepfake videos with those celebs promote the scam as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Btcxxc Scam

To begin with, Btcxxc shares the appearance of multiple equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Btcscs, Monerobit or Hadyo. They are completely identical in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these scam websites are led by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Btcxxc Scam Works?

Btcxxc is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the same overall layout. Another mutual 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when feasible), scam actors increase the exposure of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, 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 signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, 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, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Btcxxc, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can observe 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 have 0 intentions to give your money back. But to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal information, scammers 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 should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will share 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 Btcxxc.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Btcxxc 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 Btcxxc 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 Btcxxc, 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 Btcxxc is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Btcxxc 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 duration of the scam, fraudsters may reach out to you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously determined, these scoundrels have no intent of returning your money. So, what can these email messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another component of the scam designed to entice you into willingly installing destructive software onto your computer.

Both plugins and files attached to email messages can function as a carrier for different malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As stated, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to give up and aim to maximize profits.

Frequently asked questions