We Investigated Lunodex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Lunodex.com site appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably indicates it is, in truth, a scam platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Lunodex.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Lunodex Scam Overview

Originally, Lunodex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, rascals use AI-generated videos where those celebrities promote the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Lunodex Scam

To begin with, Lunodex repeats the appearance of multiple equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Sletex, Takorp or Getusdts. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these fraudulent online platforms are managed by a single group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Lunodex Scam Works?

Lunodex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly 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 advanced psychological tricks that make the user believe in the validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when feasible), scam actors boost the exposure of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users get an incentive to enroll, attracted by the promise of receiving cryptocurrency benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Lunodex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Lunodex, “Start earning with Lunodex – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that getting the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily proceed – especially as the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, swindrels will not earn even a nickel 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 info needed for it – username, email, crypto 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. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto purchases require you to have money on your account. In the case of Lunodex, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money 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 participating on this site hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

This is where the issues start to surface. When comparing 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 retrieve the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers have no intentions to return your money. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal info, scammers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks 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 Lunodex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Lunodex employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, Lunodex exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Lunodex as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Lunodex arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Lunodex.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. Lunodex utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Lunodex 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 duration of the fraud, fraudsters may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we already determined, these deceivers have no intent of giving back your funds. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious programs onto your device.

Both extensions and attachments added to email messages can function as a carrier for different malicious software. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As stated, their conscience is of little concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to give up and intend to maximize profits.

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