Cropnex Reviewed: Legit or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Cropnex.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly confirms it is, actually, a scam platform.

Despite the promises of the most easy, dependable, and client-friendly service, Cropnex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Cropnex Scam Overview

Originally, Cropnex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the fake crypto service 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 said in the introduction, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Cropnex Scam

To begin with, Cropnex shares the design of multiple similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Nelorix, Polondex or Viva. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these scam sites are operated by the same group of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Cropnex Scam Works?

Cropnex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 advanced 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 begin the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), fraud actors boost the presence of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that advertise 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 Cropnex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to sign up, enticed by the commitment of obtaining crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

This is the last stage when it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal information, rascals will not be able to 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 into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information 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, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

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

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out 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 scoundrels have zero intentions to give your money back. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Cropnex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal info, 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed 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 Cropnex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Cropnex 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 course of the scam, its masters may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we earlier determined, these scammers have no plan of returning your capital. So, what do these email messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – this is another side of the scam designed to entice you into willingly installing destructive software onto your system.

Both add-ons and files added to email messages can serve as a carrier for various malware. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As stated, their conscience is of little concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to give up and intend to maximize gains.

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