The CryptoBaze Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Cryptobaze.cc site surfaced, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Cryptobaze.cc does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

CryptoBaze Scam Overview

Originally, CryptoBaze poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, rascals employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

CryptoBaze Scam

To begin with, CryptoBaze shares the appearance of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Dorunex, Tokenstream or Ralutex. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these fraudulent sites are operated by the same team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the CryptoBaze Scam Works?

CryptoBaze is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same overall layout. Another common 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 establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign commences. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), fraud actors increase the visibility of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote 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 CryptoBaze in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain a stimulus to register, enticed by the commitment of receiving cryptocurrency rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with CryptoBaze”, “Your crypto savings are secured with CryptoBaze, “Start earning with CryptoBaze – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, swindrels 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, deceivers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto operations require you to have funds on your account. In the case of CryptoBaze, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash 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 participating on this website hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When comparing 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 withdraw 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 fraudsters have 0 intentions to return your money. But to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but for the Cryptobaze.cc they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal data, deceivers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more info of yours, 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 Cryptobaze.cc. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. CryptoBaze 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%, CryptoBaze exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying CryptoBaze as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. CryptoBaze 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. Cryptobaze.cc 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. CryptoBaze 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 CryptoBaze 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.

• Secure Your Actions. Begin by promptly reporting the scam to appropriate local authorities tasked with handling financial fraud. Notify wallet providers and engage with social networks’ technical support teams. By taking these measures, you contribute to making the scammers’ operations significantly more difficult.
• Expand Awareness. Extend your efforts by sharing the scam information with your close friends. This action has a parallel effect to reporting to the authorities, as disseminating details about fraudulent crypto services reduces the potential victims they can deceive.
• Gather Evidence. Preserve comprehensive evidence by capturing screenshots and saving all pertinent data linked to the deceptive website. Collect the URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials could prove invaluable for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments generally fall outside the scope of refund policies within most banks, it’s worth investigating the potential for a refund in specific circumstances. Maintain optimism until you definitively confirm the loss.
• Convert Mistake into Wisdom. Transform your financial setback into a valuable learning experience. Treat your loss as an investment in understanding the tactics of crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their key characteristics, how they lure individuals, and the grandiose promises they make. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be well-equipped to recognize and avoid falling into future traps without incurring further losses.

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 actors may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we earlier figured out, these scoundrels have no plan of giving back your money. So, what can these email messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your computer.

Both plugins and attachments included to email messages can act as a shell for diverse malicious code. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to give up and intend to maximize revenues.

Frequently asked questions