Investigating CoinValley: Legit or Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Coinvalley.io service popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a fraudulent platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and customer-centric service, Coinvalley.io does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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CoinValley Scam Overview

Originally, CoinValley poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. 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, rascals use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

CoinValley Scam

Initially, CoinValley copies the appearance of multiple equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Fowdex, Nexmusk or Ranodex. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these scam websites are operated by the same group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the CoinValley Scam Works?

CoinValley is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the same 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign begins. Using bots and paid ads (when achievable), scam actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to enroll, attracted by the promise of obtaining cryptocurrency rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promos, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with CoinValley”, “Your crypto savings are secured with CoinValley, “Start earning with CoinValley – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that getting the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get 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 the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this information 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. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of CoinValley, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money 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 participating on this website hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When comparing the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what KYC requirements say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal info, 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 should go through before getting your funds back. And every check will uncover 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 Coinvalley.io. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Coinvalley.io insists on cryptocurrency payments exclusively, excluding conventional methods like bank transfers. This strategy ensures anonymity for the scam and eliminates any possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Credentials. CoinValley arouses suspicion by failing to provide critical information about ownership, location, and legal registration. The lack of valid contact details and the recent creation of domain and social media profiles cast doubt on its legitimacy.
• Baseless Hype Generation. CoinValley resorts to fabricating non-existent achievements, such as contracts with Coinbase or endorsements from Elon Musk, to manipulate emotions and enhance the perception of potential returns, enticing victims to invest more.
• Fictitious Celebrity Association. CoinValley employs a deceptive tactic by falsely associating itself with well-known figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, the scam falsely claims partnerships with established entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask to bolster its false credibility.
• Potential Ponzi-Like Model. The scam operates on a pyramid-style referral system disseminated through social media, benefiting only initial participants and relying on later investments to sustain the illusion.
• Unrealistic Profit Promises. Promising improbable returns of 50-100-200%, CoinValley capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Coinvalley.io as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with CoinValley 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 timeline of the fraud, its masters may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we already figured out, these scammers have no intent of restoring your capital. So, what can these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful programs onto your device.

Both plugins and attachments included to emails can function as a carrier for various malicious code. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As stated, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to give up and aim to boost revenues.

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