Investigating Excotrade: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Excotrade.com site popped up, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible proof that unmistakably indicates it is, in fact, a fraudulent platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Excotrade.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Excotrade Scam Overview

Originally, Excotrade poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, 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 among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Excotrade Scam

Initially, Excotrade shares the layout of many similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Freedogex, Cryptocachets or Bscbhn. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive sites are operated by the same team of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Excotrade Scam Works?

Excotrade is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the similar 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 advanced 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 start the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign commences. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the aforementioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users get an incentive to register, drawn by the commitment of getting cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To augment the appeal 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, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Excotrade”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Excotrade, “Start earning with Excotrade – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that obtaining the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially since the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, swindrels will not be able to earn even a penny 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 information needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available to use right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require having funds on your account. In the case of Excotrade, 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 website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this website hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the issues start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters are naught on intentions to give your money back. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but for the Excotrade.com they are here exclusively 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 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 traded 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 Excotrade.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Excotrade 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 course of the scam, its actors may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto savings. As we previously determined, these deceivers have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into deliberately installing destructive programs onto your device.

Both extensions and attachments attached to email messages can act as a carrier for different malware. In this situation, I foresee 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 greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have nothing to give up and intend to boost revenues.

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