METALONO Reviewed: Real Deal or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Metalono.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably reveals it is, in truth, a scam platform.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Metalono.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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METALONO Scam Overview

Originally, METALONO poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this site is backing from 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, con actors employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the scam as 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.

METALONO Scam

Initially, METALONO copies the layout of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Zankash, Xilenix or Vazedex. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these deceptive websites are managed by the same group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the METALONO Scam Works?

METALONO 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 same 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 legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Employing bots and paid ads (when feasible), scam actors increase the visibility of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that promote 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 METALONO in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an incentive to register, attracted by the assurance of obtaining crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with METALONO”, “Your crypto savings are secured with METALONO, “Start earning with METALONO – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that obtaining the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily move on – especially since 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 sign up using your personal info, frauds will not 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, frauds bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the promised bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require having capital on your account. With METALONO, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual 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

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters have zero intentions to give your money back. But to make it look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Metalono.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, deceivers 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks will reveal 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 Metalono.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with METALONO 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 get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we earlier determined, these deceivers have no intention of giving back your capital. So, what can these messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – this is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into deliberately running malicious software onto your device.

Both add-ons and files attached to email messages can function as a shell for different malicious code. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to give up and aim to maximize revenues.

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