Recently, Colywex.com service popped up, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly reveals it is, in truth, a deceptive service.
Despite what Colywex site says, they will never return your capital. Despite the figures displayed in the “member area”, there is absolutely no way to retrieve even a cent. All promises regarding crypto rewards are baseless as well.
Colywex Scam Overview
The key service that Colywex attempts to provide is a safe and user-friendly cryptocurrency wallet service. The website pledges exchange facilities, tools for managing wallets, transfers, dashboards, and similar functions. In reality, they aim to emulate the functionality of a crypto trading platform, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it in fact solely serves as a cover needed to lull the vigilance.
To begin with, Colywex imitates the design of many similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Bitxint, Xterex or Kiyobit. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these scam sites are managed by a single team of scoundrels.
Cryptocurrency Scam Summary
| Website | Colywex.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 Colywex Scam Works?
Colywex is yet another online platform within a wide-ranging network of linked crypto deceptive platforms. The managers employ diverse brand titles and websites, like Colywex.com, to ensnare victims. Nevertheless, these deceptive websites have in common matching website designs, terms of service, and About information. This reveals their beginnings as parts of the same criminal network, which promotes the same mode of deception under various covers. The fraudsters simply copy the same fraudulent site under different names to deceive users into believing they are joining a fresh venture. However, in reality, it’s the equal system of swindlers orchestrating the fraudulent pledges and undertakings to take deposited cryptocurrency. The operators shrewdly make use of psychological tactics and appealing offers to carry out their deceitful plans.
Step 1: Spreading
To initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Employing bots and sponsored ads (when possible), scam actors increase the exposure of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. This tactic allows them to create a wide net and interact with their targeted audience. The latter typically consists of cryptocurrency enthusiastic individuals searching for chances to earn profits.
Step 2: Gaining Traffic
People who show interest visit Colywex.com via links featured in advertisements or bot-generated posts. The webpage utilizes captivating visuals, design aspects that appear genuine, and assertions of holding a valid license, all intended to convey an initial impression of trustworthiness.
Step 3: Data Gathering
To claim their rewards, users must proactively set up an account on Colywex and get prompts to provide sensitive and personal data throughout the registration procedure. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, sharing email addresses, supplying phone numbers, sending in identification documents, and more.
Step 4: Requesting funds
Once enrolled, users witness substantial amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at thousands of dollars, within their Colywex wallets. Nevertheless, as it usually happens with such incentives, you cannot withdraw them ahead of topping up your account. Normally, a deposit of $100 is required to access the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the trap that eventually results to the money loss.
Step 5: Disappear
The instant the payment is sent, the fraudsters terminate all contact. They move forward to block users, remove accounts, and vanish with both the submitted money and vital individual details. The fabricated prizes continue to be perpetually uncredited, as they lack real existence. They act exclusively as a phishing ploy. This technique forms the foundation for the fraudsters’ capacity to mislead victims and misappropriate hard-earned earnings through their duplicative online crypto scheme.
Signs of Scam
I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Colywex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.
- Absent company details. Colywex 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 Colywex 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 Colywex, 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 Colywex is a definite scam.
What Should I do as a Victim?
If you had to deal with Colywex 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, scoundrels may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we previously figured out, these rascals have no intention of giving back your money. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another side of the scam designed to throw you into willingly running destructive applications onto your computer.
Both plugins and attachments attached to email messages can act as a carrier for various malware. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always significant. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of little concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and intend to maximize profits.
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.
