We Investigated Locenax: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Locenax.com site appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that clearly indicates it is, actually, a scam platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Locenax.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Locenax Scam Overview

Originally, Locenax poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, rascals employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote the scam 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 a transparent scam.

Locenax Scam

Initially, Locenax shares the layout of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Tuzax, Trumpexchange or Tecolax. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these deceptive websites are managed by a single gang of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Locenax Scam Works?

Locenax is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the same 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 advanced 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 create 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 advertisements (when feasible), fraud actors increase the visibility 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 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 Locenax in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to sign up, enticed by the commitment of obtaining crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To increase the appeal of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Locenax”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Locenax, “Start earning with Locenax – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that unlocking the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially since the bonus 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 data, frauds will not be able to earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, scammers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least crypto 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 kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require having money on your account. In the case of Locenax, users are also forced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam 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 credited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real crypto 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

Needless to say that swindlers are naught on intentions to return your money. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Locenax.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your money 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 Locenax.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Locenax 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 timeline of the fraud, its actors may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier determined, these rascals have no plan of restoring your capital. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another component of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious programs onto your computer.

Both add-ons and attachments included to emails can function as a carrier for various malware. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As stated, their conscience is of little concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to lose and aim to maximize gains.

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