Coinved Reviewed: Real Deal or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Coinved.com site surfaced, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly reveals it is, in fact, a scam platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, dependable, and client-friendly service, Coinved.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Coinved Scam Overview

Originally, Coinved poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Coinved Scam

To begin with, Coinved repeats the appearance of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Celovex, Btrbyt or Bitstader. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these fraudulent online platforms are managed by the same gang of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Coinved Scam Works?

Coinved is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use several 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 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 initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Using bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), scam actors intensify the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users receive a stimulus to sign up, drawn by the promise of receiving cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Coinved”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Coinved, “Start earning with Coinved – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that getting the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily proceed – especially as the gift 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 data, swindrels will not earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just mentioned, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the promised 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 step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Coinved, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent 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 deposited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels have zero intentions to give your money back. Though to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal information, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, 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 Coinved.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Coinved 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 duration of the fraud, its actors may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto funds. As we previously determined, these deceivers have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately installing destructive software onto your system.

Both plugins and files added to emails can function as a shell for diverse malware. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to give up and strive to maximize revenues.

Frequently asked questions