We Investigated CENORYX: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Cenoryx.com service appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly indicates it is, in truth, a scam platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Cenoryx.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your funds and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

CENORYX Scam Overview

Originally, CENORYX poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds use deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the scam as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

CENORYX Scam

Initially, CENORYX copies the design of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Cenolix, Celunor or Basfex. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these fraudulent online platforms are managed by a single group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the CENORYX Scam Works?

CENORYX is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same 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 advanced psychological tricks that make the user believe in the legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Employing bots and paid ads (when achievable), scam actors boost the exposure of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain 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 enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users receive a stimulus to register, enticed by the assurance of getting cryptocurrency rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promos, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with CENORYX”, “Your crypto savings are secured with CENORYX, “Start earning with CENORYX – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that getting the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, frauds will not 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 said, scammers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, 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, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have capital on your account. With CENORYX, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And this 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 participating on this website hoping to use all the deposited money and withdraw them.

This is where the issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the funds 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 send you money. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal data, 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Cenoryx.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with CENORYX 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, its actors may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier figured out, these scammers have no plan of returning your money. So, what can these messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – this is another component of the scam designed to throw you into willingly running harmful software onto your computer.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can serve as a shell for diverse malicious software. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As stated, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to lose and strive to maximize gains.

Frequently asked questions