The Legacydex Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Legacydex.io website appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a deceptive site.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Legacydex.io does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Legacydex Scam Overview

Originally, Legacydex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the scam as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Legacydex Scam

First and foremost, Legacydex copies the appearance of many equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Wollyex, Weex or Dexchurka. They are entirely identical in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these fraudulent online platforms are managed by a single team of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Legacydex Scam Works?

Legacydex is a part of a significant 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 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 fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when possible), scam actors boost the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the ads, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Legacydex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Legacydex, “Start earning with Legacydex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially as the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, swindrels 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 mentioned, deceivers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto 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. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available to use right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require having capital on your account. In the case of Legacydex, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the money flow to this scam site. 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 credited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers have 0 intentions to send you money. But to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Legacydex.io they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal information, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And every check will share more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded 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 Legacydex.io. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Legacydex 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 course of the fraud, its actors may reach out to you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto funds. As we previously determined, these scammers have no intent of giving back your funds. So, what do these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into deliberately installing malicious programs onto your computer.

Both add-ons and attachments attached to emails can serve as a carrier for diverse malware. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As noted, their ethics is of little concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to lose and aim to boost profits.

Frequently asked questions