The Comtrex Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Comtrex.pro website popped up, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that unmistakably confirms it is, in fact, a scam service.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, dependable, and customer-centric service, Comtrex.pro does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Comtrex Scam Overview

Originally, Comtrex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that are known in 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, frauds use deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Comtrex Scam

To begin with, Comtrex repeats the design of many equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Changelon, Worktaskl or Embernet. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are led by a single team of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Comtrex Scam Works?

Comtrex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same overall layout. Another mutual 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 legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign commences. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when possible), scam actors boost the exposure of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned 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 Comtrex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promotions, users end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Comtrex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Comtrex, “Start earning with Comtrex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially as the reward 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, swindrels will not be able to earn even a nickel 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 data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters 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 crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto purchases require you to have money on your account. In the case of Comtrex, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers are naught on intentions to give your money back. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, scammers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Comtrex.pro. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Comtrex 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 Comtrex 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 Comtrex, 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 Comtrex is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Comtrex 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 timeline of the scam, fraudsters may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we already figured out, these scammers have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another element of the scam designed to entice you into willingly installing malicious programs onto your computer.

Both extensions and files included to email messages can act as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of no concern, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have no principles to lose and intend to maximize gains.

Frequently asked questions