Recently, Coinpexy.com site appeared, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a scam site.
Contrary to the claims of Coinpexy.com, they will never refund your capital. Despite the money displayed in the “member area”, there is no means to retrieve even a single penny. All pledges regarding crypto rewards are baseless as well.
Coinpexy Scam Overview
The main feature that Coinpexy strives to provide is a protected and user-friendly crypto wallet service. The website promises exchange facilities, tools for controlling wallets, transfers, dashboards, and the like. In fact, they try to emulate the functionality of a crypto exchange, like Binance or Coinbase. However, it in fact exclusively serves as a shell intended to lull the vigilance.
Initially, Coinpexy reproduces the layout of many similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Coinmxr, Bitxguard or Royre. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these fraudulent online platforms are operated by the same group of scammers.
Cryptocurrency Scam Summary
| Website | Coinpexy.com |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 188.114.97.3 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent offers of cryptocurrency services |
How the Coinpexy Scam Works?
Coinpexy is yet another webpage within a extensive network of associated crypto deceptive webpages. The managers employ various brand titles and websites, like Coinpexy.com, to ensnare victims. However, these false websites have in common identical designs, terms of service, and About information. This exposes their beginnings as components of the identical scam network, which advocates the same type of fraud under different appearances. The fraudsters simply copy the equal fraudulent website under different names to mislead users into assuming they are participating in a fresh opportunity. However, in actuality, it’s the equal group of fraudsters orchestrating the fraudulent commitments and undertakings to grab deposited money. The operators shrewdly make use of psychological maneuvers and captivating offers to execute their unscrupulous schemes.
Step 1: Spreading
To initiate the fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Employing bots and sponsored ads (when possible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. This strategy permits them to create a wide net and connect with their focused audience. The public usually consists of cryptocurrency enthusiasts searching for opportunities to generate profits.
Users receive an encouragement to enroll, enticed by the assurance of obtaining crypto benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To augment the appeal of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.
Step 2: Gaining Traffic
Users who express interest go to Coinpexy.com via links included in advertisements or bot-generated posts. The website uses captivating visuals, design features that appear authentic, and assertions of having a valid license, all intended to present an initial perception of credibility.
Step 3: Data Gathering
To redeem their benefits, users need to actively set up an profile on Coinpexy and get instructions to provide sensitive and private information during the enrollment process. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, providing email addresses, specifying phone numbers, furnishing identification documents, and more.
Step 4: Requesting funds
Once registered, users witness considerable amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at thousands of dollars, within their Coinpexy wallets. However, as is typical with such incentives, you are unable to withdraw them prior to topping up your account. Usually, a payment of $100 is asked to withdraw the sign-up bonus. This prerequisite serves as the enticement that ultimately leads to the money loss.
Step 5: Disappear
Signs of Scam
I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Coinpexy.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.
- Absent company details. Coinpexy 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 Coinpexy 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 Coinpexy, 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 Coinpexy is a definite scam.
What Should I do as a Victim?
If you had to deal with Coinpexy 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.
- Immediate Reporting. Your initial step should involve promptly notifying local authorities specializing in financial fraud. Extend your reach by reaching out to wallet providers and engaging with social networks’ technical support teams. These actions serve to raise the bar for the scammers’ operations.
- Share among Friends. Amplify your efforts by informing your close friends about the scam. Similar to informing authorities, this dissemination of information restricts the scammers’ potential victim pool.
- Preserve Crucial Information. Compile a comprehensive evidence archive by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. Collect the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These records could provide vital clues for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
- Exploring Refund Options. While most banks’ refund policies may exclude cryptocurrency payments, it’s advisable to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain hope until you obtain confirmation of the loss.
- Transform Loss into Knowledge. Turn your financial setback into an opportunity for growth. View your loss as an investment in understanding the strategies employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their telltale characteristics, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant promises they make. Equipped with this insight, you’ll be well-prepared to spot and evade future traps without suffering additional 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 course of the scam, rascals may get in touch with you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we already figured out, these scoundrels have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what do these email messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your device.
Both extensions and attachments attached to email messages can function as a carrier for various malware. In this scenario, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As noted, their morality is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have nothing to lose and aim to maximize gains.
Frequently asked questions
- Contact your bank or card provider and ask about chargeback options.
- Save screenshots, receipts, tracking numbers, and emails as evidence.
- Change reused passwords and enable two-factor authentication on important accounts.
- Watch for follow-up phishing emails pretending to offer refunds or delivery updates.
