We Investigated Mecolex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Mecolex.com service popped up, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably confirms it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Mecolex.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Mecolex Scam Overview

Originally, Mecolex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, rascals employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the scam 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 glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Mecolex Scam

Initially, Mecolex copies the layout of numerous similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Maehwex, Lynwex or Luxembit. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these deceptive sites are operated by a single team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Mecolex Scam Works?

Mecolex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use various 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Employing bots and paid advertisements (when feasible), fraud actors boost the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips 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 joins the service immediately.

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

Users receive an incentive to sign up, enticed by the commitment of obtaining cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To increase the appeal of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promos, users end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Mecolex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Mecolex, “Start earning with Mecolex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, swindrels 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, deceivers bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are 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, 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 equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency operations require having capital on your account. In the case of Mecolex, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When comparing the real crypto wallet vs what the website 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 scoundrels have 0 intentions to give your money back. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, scammers 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 funds back. And each of these checks 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 Mecolex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Mecolex 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.

• Report the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

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 actors may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously determined, these scoundrels have no plan of restoring your capital. So, what can these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – this is another element of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running harmful software onto your system.

Both extensions and attachments included to email messages can serve as a shell for various malware. 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 chance is always existent. As noted, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to lose and aim to maximize profits.

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