Investigating Forunex: Legit or Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Forunex.com site popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a fraudulent service.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Forunex.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Forunex Scam Overview

Originally, Forunex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service 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 more realistic, con actors use deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the scam 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.

Forunex Scam

Initially, Forunex copies the layout of multiple similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Cointerax, Cenvor or Cenotor. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Probably, all these scam sites are managed by the same team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Forunex Scam Works?

Forunex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use several 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 legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To begin the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when feasible), scam actors boost the visibility of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise 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 Forunex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive a stimulus to sign up, enticed by the promise of getting cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Forunex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Forunex, “Start earning with Forunex – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially as the reward 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 information, crooks will not earn even a nickel 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 into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, 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, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Forunex, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website 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 scoundrels are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, 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 funds back. And each of these checks 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 Forunex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Forunex 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.

• Report the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

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 masters may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we earlier figured out, these rascals have no intent of restoring your funds. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately installing harmful applications onto your system.

Both extensions and files attached to email messages can act as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always above zero. As stated, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no scruples to give up and intend to maximize profits.

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