We Investigated Ecoinix: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Ecoinix.com website appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly reveals it is, actually, a scam service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Ecoinix.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Ecoinix Scam Overview

Originally, Ecoinix poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing 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 says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds use deepfake videos with those celebs promote the scam as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Ecoinix Scam

First and foremost, Ecoinix repeats the design of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Edrochain, Emx1 or Fibitix. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these fraudulent websites are managed by a single team of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Ecoinix Scam Works?

Ecoinix 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 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 complex 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 initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Utilizing bots and sponsored ads (when achievable), scam actors intensify the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an encouragement to enroll, drawn by the promise of getting cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the appeal of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal data, crooks 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 into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the promised bonus right away. To make at least cryptocurrency 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 purchases require having money on your account. With Ecoinix, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the deposited money and withdraw them.

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

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels have 0 intentions to return your money. But to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but for the Ecoinix.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal information, frauds 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 money back. And every check will share 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 Ecoinix.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Ecoinix 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 duration of the scam, its masters may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously determined, these scammers have no intention of giving back your funds. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running malicious programs onto your device.

Both add-ons and files attached to email messages can act as a shell for diverse malicious code. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As stated, their ethics is of no concern, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have no scruples to lose and aim to boost profits.

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