We Investigated Crypto-NDZ: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Crypto-difi68.com service appeared, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible proof that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a fraudulent platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, reliable, and client-friendly service, Crypto-difi68.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Crypto-NDZ Scam Overview

Originally, Crypto-NDZ poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, rascals employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Crypto-NDZ Scam

Initially, Crypto-NDZ repeats the appearance of many equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Jupiter, Safemoon or Grok. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these deceptive sites are operated by the same gang of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Crypto-NDZ Scam Works?

Crypto-NDZ is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another shared 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when feasible), scam actors increase the visibility of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users receive a stimulus to sign up, enticed by the promise of getting crypto rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To increase the appeal of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Crypto-NDZ”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Crypto-NDZ, “Start earning with Crypto-NDZ – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unexperienced users happily move on – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal information, swindrels will not be able to 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, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – are 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, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency operations require you to have funds on your account. With Crypto-NDZ, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited money and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that swindlers are naught on intentions to give your money back. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal data, frauds 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 uncover 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 Crypto-difi68.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Crypto-NDZ 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. Crypto-difi68.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. Crypto-NDZ 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. Crypto-difi68.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%, Crypto-NDZ preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Crypto-NDZ as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Crypto-NDZ 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 to Authorities. Your initial action should involve reporting the scam to local authorities responsible for addressing financial fraud. Additionally, reach out to wallet providers and engage with the technical support teams of social networks. This collective effort raises the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Inform Your Inner Circle. Extend your impact by sharing information about the scam with your close friends. Similar to notifying authorities, this dissemination of details curbs the scammers’ potential to deceive.
• Document the Trail. Assemble a comprehensive record by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. This encompasses the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials offer invaluable leads for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments may not typically align with traditional bank refund policies, it’s worthwhile to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain a positive outlook until you secure confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Insight. Shift your focus from the financial loss to gaining wisdom. Consider your loss as an investment in comprehending the tactics employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their distinctive traits, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant pledges they make. This knowledge equips you to recognize and avoid future traps, minimizing the risk of enduring further 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 fraud, fraudsters may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously figured out, these rascals have no intent of returning your capital. So, what do these emails and browser extensions represent? Correct – this is another side of the deceptive plan 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 various malicious software. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have no principles to give up and intend to maximize profits.

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