We Looked at the Evidence: Is Lynwex Legit or Scam?

Recently, Lynwex.com site surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably indicates it is, actually, a fraudulent site.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and customer-centric service, Lynwex.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Lynwex Scam Overview

Originally, Lynwex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds use AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, 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.

Lynwex Scam

To begin with, Lynwex shares the design of multiple similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Luxembit, Joowix or Jembit. They are completely identical in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these deceptive sites are led by the same group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Lynwex Scam Works?

Lynwex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use various 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 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 generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors boost the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

This is the last stage when it is possible to skip 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 said, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the claimed bonus right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, the user should top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto purchases require having money on your account. In the case of Lynwex, users are also forced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the problems start to surface. 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 pull out 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 give your money back. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Lynwex.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, frauds 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 should go through before getting your grand back. And every check will reveal 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 Lynwex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Lynwex 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, scoundrels may get in touch with you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no intent of restoring your money. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – that is another component of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running malicious software onto your device.

Both plugins and attachments added to emails can act as a shell for diverse malicious software. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As stated, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to lose and strive to boost profits.

Frequently asked questions