Monexes Review: Legit or Scam? Read This First

Recently, Monexes.com website appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly reveals it is, in truth, a scam site.

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

Monexes Scam Overview

Originally, Monexes poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this service 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 employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service 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 glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Monexes Scam

First and foremost, Monexes copies the appearance of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Bitenexer, Vulenix or Bitenyx. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these scam online platforms are operated by a single team of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Monexes Scam Works?

Monexes is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the same overall layout. Another shared 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), scam actors intensify the visibility of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the aforementioned celebs 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 Monexes in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive a stimulus to register, drawn by the commitment of obtaining cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To increase the appeal of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the ads, users end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Monexes”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Monexes, “Start earning with Monexes – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that unlocking the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially as the reward 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 register using your personal data, rascals will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just mentioned, scammers 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 data 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 crypto purchases, you need to 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

Obviously, any cryptocurrency operations require you to have capital on your account. In the case of Monexes, users are also compelled to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money 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 trading on this website hoping to use all the transferred funds and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can spot 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 0 intentions to send you money. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal data, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss 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 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 Monexes.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Monexes 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 to Authorities. Your initial action should involve reporting the scam to local authorities responsible for addressing financial fraud. Additionally, reach out to wallet providers and engage with the technical support teams of social networks. This collective effort raises the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Inform Your Inner Circle. Extend your impact by sharing information about the scam with your close friends. Similar to notifying authorities, this dissemination of details curbs the scammers’ potential to deceive.
• Document the Trail. Assemble a comprehensive record by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. This encompasses the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials offer invaluable leads for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments may not typically align with traditional bank refund policies, it’s worthwhile to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain a positive outlook until you secure confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Insight. Shift your focus from the financial loss to gaining wisdom. Consider your loss as an investment in comprehending the tactics employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their distinctive traits, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant pledges they make. This knowledge equips you to recognize and avoid future traps, minimizing the risk of enduring further 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, its actors may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we already figured out, these scammers have no plan of giving back your money. So, what do these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed – this is another element of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately running harmful programs onto your computer.

Both extensions and files attached to email messages can serve as a shell for diverse malware. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As stated, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to lose and intend to maximize revenues.

Frequently asked questions