We Looked Into FastCoinen: Scam or Trustworthy? The Verdict

Recently, Fastcoinen.com website appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably indicates it is, actually, a fraudulent site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Fastcoinen.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

FastCoinen Scam Overview

Originally, FastCoinen poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, rascals employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

FastCoinen Scam

To begin with, FastCoinen repeats the appearance of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Bittiebit, Tidexcoin or Onyx. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are led by a single team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the FastCoinen Scam Works?

FastCoinen is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the similar 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 advanced 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 begin the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), fraud actors boost the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain a stimulus to sign up, attracted by the assurance of receiving crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To enhance the appeal 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

Upon following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with FastCoinen”, “Your crypto savings are secured with FastCoinen, “Start earning with FastCoinen – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed 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 register using your personal info, rascals 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, frauds bait folks into registration for bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only 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 claimed bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require having capital on your account. With FastCoinen, users are also coerced 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 participating on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the funds 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. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Fastcoinen.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal data, frauds 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 should go through before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will share more and more information, 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 Fastcoinen.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with FastCoinen 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, scoundrels may reach out to you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto savings. As we earlier figured out, these scammers have no plan of giving back your money. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – this is another side of the scam designed to entice you into willingly installing malicious software onto your computer.

Both plugins and files added to emails can function as a carrier for different malware. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always above zero. As stated, their conscience is of little concern, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to lose and aim to maximize gains.

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