The CELUNOR Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Celunor.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Despite the promises of the most easy, reliable, and client-friendly service, Celunor.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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CELUNOR Scam Overview

Originally, CELUNOR poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable marketing 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 claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the fake crypto service as 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 vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

CELUNOR Scam

To begin with, CELUNOR repeats the layout of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Basfex, Adorob or Memav. They are entirely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Presumably, all these deceptive websites are operated by a single team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the CELUNOR Scam Works?

CELUNOR is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several 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 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 deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when feasible), scam actors increase the visibility of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise 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 CELUNOR in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to enroll, attracted by the commitment of obtaining crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, users end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with CELUNOR”, “Your crypto savings are secured with CELUNOR, “Start earning with CELUNOR – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, crooks will not 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, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, 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

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require having money on your account. With CELUNOR, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam website. 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 deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but for the Celunor.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal information, scammers 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 should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more info of yours, 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 Celunor.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. CELUNOR 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. Celunor.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. CELUNOR 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. Celunor.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%, CELUNOR preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling CELUNOR as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with CELUNOR 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 scam, its actors may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier determined, these rascals have no intention of restoring your money. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing harmful applications onto your device.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can act as a shell for various malicious code. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their morality is of no concern, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no principles to lose and intend to maximize revenues.

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