We Investigated Lightzex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Lightzex.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly indicates it is, in truth, a deceptive service.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and client-friendly service, Lightzex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Lightzex Scam Overview

Originally, Lightzex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this platform is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. 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, frauds use deepfake videos with those celebs advertise 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.

Lightzex Scam

First and foremost, Lightzex repeats the layout of numerous equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Dealzex, Melunex or Xetow. They are entirely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these fraudulent online platforms are managed by the same team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Lightzex Scam Works?

Lightzex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar 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 create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Using bots and paid ads (when possible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos 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 joins the service immediately.

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

Users receive an incentive to enroll, attracted by the promise of obtaining crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Lightzex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Lightzex, “Start earning with Lightzex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that obtaining the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially since the reward 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 info, rascals 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, scammers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised 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. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency operations require having money on your account. In the case of Lightzex, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

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

By asking for your personal info, deceivers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And every check will uncover more and more information, 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 Lightzex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Lightzex 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 scam, its masters may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we earlier determined, these deceivers have no intention of restoring your money. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious software onto your device.

Both add-ons and attachments added to emails can serve as a carrier for different malware. In this scenario, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As stated, their ethics is of little concern, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no principles to lose and aim to maximize revenues.

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