We Investigated Gortox: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Gortox.com website surfaced, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that unmistakably confirms it is, in truth, a scam platform.

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

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Gortox Scam Overview

Originally, Gortox poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable 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 more realistic, frauds employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Gortox Scam

Initially, Gortox shares the layout of multiple similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Gimolex, Fistbix or Exwox. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these deceptive websites are led by a single team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Gortox Scam Works?

Gortox is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another mutual 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Employing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), scam actors intensify the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users receive an encouragement to sign up, drawn by the commitment of getting cryptocurrency rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, users end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Gortox”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Gortox, “Start earning with Gortox – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, frauds will not be able to earn even a penny 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 into registration for bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – are 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, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal 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 step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Gortox, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this website hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Gortox.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting 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 a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And every check will uncover more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed 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 Gortox.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Gortox 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 fraud, its actors 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 funds. As we already determined, these deceivers have no plan of giving back your money. So, what can these emails and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – that is another side of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful applications onto your computer.

Both plugins and attachments included to email messages can serve as a shell for various malicious software. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As stated, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have no scruples to give up and intend to boost revenues.

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