Investigating Crypto-cex: Legit or Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Crypto-cex.global service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably indicates it is, in fact, a deceptive platform.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Crypto-cex.global does not follow any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Crypto-cex Scam Overview

Originally, Crypto-cex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the fraud as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Crypto-cex Scam

First and foremost, Crypto-cex shares the appearance of numerous similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Coinved, Celovex or Btrbyt. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Probably, all these deceptive sites are led by a single team of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Crypto-cex Scam Works?

Crypto-cex 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 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 validity 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 primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored advertisements (when feasible), scam actors increase the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the aforementioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users get a stimulus to enroll, enticed by the commitment of obtaining crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To augment the appeal of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Crypto-cex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Crypto-cex, “Start earning with Crypto-cex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – 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 data, crooks will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just said, deceivers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Crypto-cex, users are also forced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the transferred funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can notice 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

Needless to say that scoundrels are naught on intentions to give your money back. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Crypto-cex.global they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

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

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Crypto-cex employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, Crypto-cex exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Crypto-cex as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Crypto-cex arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Crypto-cex.global solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. Crypto-cex utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Crypto-cex 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, rascals may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier figured out, these rascals have no intention of returning your funds. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another element of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive programs onto your device.

Both plugins and files included to emails can act as a carrier for various malware. In this case, 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 stated, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to lose and aim to maximize gains.

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