We Investigated MONGALEX: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Mongalex.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably indicates it is, actually, a fraudulent service.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Mongalex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

MONGALEX Scam Overview

Originally, MONGALEX poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable 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 claims having significant support from 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.

MONGALEX Scam

First and foremost, MONGALEX shares the appearance of numerous similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Koinlite, Jabienic or Durendex. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive websites are operated by a single gang of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the MONGALEX Scam Works?

MONGALEX is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 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 deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the visibility of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the aforementioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users receive a stimulus to register, attracted by the promise of getting crypto rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with MONGALEX”, “Your crypto savings are secured with MONGALEX, “Start earning with MONGALEX – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially since the reward 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 register using your personal info, crooks will not be able to earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information 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, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal 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 step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto operations require having money on your account. In the case of MONGALEX, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can spot 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 0 intentions to return your money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal data, deceivers 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And every check 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 Mongalex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with MONGALEX 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, scoundrels may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously figured out, these scammers have no plan of restoring your capital. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running harmful programs onto your device.

Both extensions and attachments attached to emails can function as a shell for different malicious software. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As noted, their morality is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no principles to lose and aim to maximize revenues.

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