The Howzex Scam – What You Need To Know

Recently, Howzex.com service appeared, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly confirms it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Howzex.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any tales 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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Howzex Scam Overview

Originally, Howzex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this site 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 claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as 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 an obvious scam.

Howzex Scam

Initially, Howzex copies the appearance of numerous similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Mozetex, Vongbit or Lapsbit. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Probably, all these fraudulent websites are managed by a single group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Howzex Scam Works?

Howzex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Employing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), scam actors intensify the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the aforementioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users obtain a stimulus to register, enticed by the promise of receiving crypto prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To augment the appeal of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promotions, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Howzex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Howzex, “Start earning with Howzex – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that obtaining the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep 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 sign up using your personal information, crooks 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 mentioned, scammers bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only 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 promised 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. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have funds on your account. With Howzex, users are also forced to top up to use 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 promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

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

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters have no intentions to return your money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting 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 every check 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 Howzex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Howzex 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 course of the scam, scoundrels may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we already figured out, these rascals have no intention of giving back your capital. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly running harmful programs onto your device.

Both extensions and files added to email messages can function as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As noted, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to give up and strive to maximize gains.

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