We Looked Into Cetoex: Scam or Trustworthy? The Verdict

Recently, Cetoex.com site surfaced, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly indicates it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Cetoex.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Cetoex Scam Overview

Originally, Cetoex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds use AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the fraud as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Cetoex Scam

First and foremost, Cetoex copies the layout of many similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Tapxec, Ouineexx or Blazzerpips. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Presumably, all these deceptive websites are managed by a single team of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Cetoex Scam Works?

Cetoex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors boost the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Cetoex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Cetoex, “Start earning with Cetoex – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal data, crooks will not earn even a penny 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 for bonuses. And all the personal data 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, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to 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 operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of Cetoex, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this scam 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 deposited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious problems 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 pull out the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters have zero intentions to give your money back. But to make it look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC requirements say, but for the Cetoex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting 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 a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money 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 Cetoex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Cetoex 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 duration of the fraud, fraudsters may contact 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 already determined, these deceivers have no plan of giving back your money. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another component of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately installing harmful applications onto your system.

Both add-ons and files included to email messages can serve as a carrier for diverse malicious software. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As stated, their ethics is of little concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to give up and strive to boost profits.

Frequently asked questions