The Flow-dex Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Flow-dex.com site appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a scam site.

Despite the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Flow-dex.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Gridinsoft Anti-Malware 6-day trial available.
EULA | Privacy Policy | 10% Off Coupon

Subscribe to our Telegram channel to be the first to know about news and our exclusive materials on information security.

Flow-dex Scam Overview

Originally, Flow-dex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this platform is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. 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 real, frauds use deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the fraud 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 glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Flow-dex Scam

First and foremost, Flow-dex repeats the design of numerous similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Monlenix, Lapaido or Nowzex. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Probably, all these deceptive websites are operated by a single gang of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Flow-dex Scam Works?

Flow-dex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same 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 complex psychological tricks that make the user believe in the legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), scam actors intensify the visibility of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips 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 Flow-dex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to sign up, drawn by the commitment of obtaining cryptocurrency rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness 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 following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Flow-dex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Flow-dex, “Start earning with Flow-dex – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the bonus 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 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 said, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this data 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 at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require having capital on your account. In the case of Flow-dex, 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 committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can notice 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

There’s no need to explain that swindlers have no intentions to send you money. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements 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 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 funds back. And every check will uncover 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 Flow-dex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Flow-dex 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 Flow-dex 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 Flow-dex, 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 Flow-dex is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Flow-dex 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 timeline of the fraud, its actors may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we earlier determined, these scoundrels have no plan of giving back your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another side of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly running malicious software onto your computer.

Both plugins and files attached to emails can function as a carrier for various malicious code. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to give up and aim to boost profits.

Remove spyware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common malicious programs as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove spyware as well as other malware hiding on your computer.

To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:

1. Begin by downloading Gridinsoft Anti-Malware, accessible via the blue button below or directly from the official website gridinsoft.com.

2.Once the Gridinsoft setup file (setup-gridinsoft-fix.exe) is downloaded, execute it by clicking on the file.

3.Follow the installation setup wizard's instructions diligently.

4. Access the "Scan Tab" on the application's start screen and launch a comprehensive "Full Scan" to examine your entire computer. This inclusive scan encompasses the memory, startup items, the registry, services, drivers, and all files, ensuring that it detects malware hidden in all possible locations.

Be patient, as the scan duration depends on the number of files and your computer's hardware capabilities. Use this time to relax or attend to other tasks.

5. Upon completion, Anti-Malware will present a detailed report containing all the detected malicious items and threats on your PC.

6. Select all the identified items from the report and confidently click the "Clean Now" button. This action will safely remove the malicious files from your computer, transferring them to the secure quarantine zone of the anti-malware program to prevent any further harmful actions.

8. If prompted, restart your computer to finalize the full system scan procedure. This step is crucial to ensure thorough removal of any remaining threats. After the restart, Gridinsoft Anti-Malware will open and display a message confirming the completion of the scan.

Remember Gridinsoft offers a 6-day free trial. This means you can take advantage of the trial period at no cost to experience the full benefits of the software and prevent any future malware infections on your system. Embrace this opportunity to fortify your computer's security without any financial commitment.

Frequently asked questions