We Investigated Coinwez: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Coinwez.com service popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably confirms it is, in fact, a scam platform.

Despite what Coinwez site states, they won’t return your capital. Regardless of the money displayed in the “member area”, there is no ability to retrieve even a coin. All commitments regarding crypto incentives are baseless as well.

Coinwez Scam Overview

The main feature that Coinwez attempts to provide is a secure and convenient cryptocurrency wallet service. The site promises exchange solutions, tools for managing wallets, transfers, dashboards, and alike functions. In reality, they try to emulate the functionality of a crypto exchange, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it in fact only serves as a shell intended to lull the vigilance.

Coinwez Scam

Initially, Coinwez reproduces the design of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Cointuz, Coinmuz or Pulamex. They are entirely identical in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are operated by a single group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Coinwez Scam Works?

Coinwez is yet another webpage within a extensive network of associated crypto fraudulent webpages. The administrators utilize different brand identities and sites, like Coinwez.com, to ensnare victims. Nevertheless, these false websites possess the same website designs, terms of service, and About Us information. This reveals their sources as components of the same criminal network, which advocates the same mode of deception under diverse appearances. The fraudsters merely duplicate the same deceptive site under different names to deceive users into assuming they are joining a new venture. However, in actuality, it’s the same group of swindlers orchestrating the deceptive pledges and efforts to take deposited money. The operators shrewdly utilize psychological strategies and captivating propositions to carry out their deceitful plots.

Step 1: Spreading

To start the deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Using bots and paid promotions (when feasible), scam actors intensify the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. This strategy enables them to create an extensive net and engage with their targeted viewers. The public typically consists of cryptocurrency fans looking for chances to earn profits.

Users get an incentive to enroll, drawn by the commitment of obtaining crypto prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Individuals who demonstrate interest go to Coinwez.com via links included in promotions or robotic posts. The website utilizes captivating visuals, design aspects that appear legitimate, and assertions of holding a legitimate license, all aimed to present an initial perception of credibility.

Step 3: Data Gathering

To collect their rewards, users need to proactively set up an profile on Coinwez and get guidance to submit sensitive and private information throughout the enrollment procedure. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, revealing email addresses, giving phone numbers, submitting identification papers, and more.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Once signed up, users witness considerable amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at hundreds of dollars, within their Coinwez wallets. Nevertheless, as is typical with such rewards, you can’t withdraw them prior to making a deposit. Usually, a payment of $100 is required to withdraw the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the trap that eventually results to the money loss.

Step 5: Disappear

The point in time the payment is made, the scammers halt all contact. They proceed to block users, remove accounts, and abscond with both the submitted capital and critical private details. The fabricated prizes continue to be perpetually uncredited, as they lack real existence. They act purely as a phishing ploy. This approach forms the foundation for the deceivers’ capacity to mislead victims and misappropriate hard-earned money through their duplicative web crypto scam.

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Coinwez.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Coinwez 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 the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

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 reach out to you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we previously determined, these rascals have no intent of restoring your money. So, what do these emails and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – this is another component of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly running malicious applications onto your device.

Both extensions and attachments included to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have nothing to lose and strive to maximize profits.

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