We Investigated Noretex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Noretex.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a place where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that unmistakably confirms it is, in fact, a fraudulent platform.

Despite the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Noretex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Noretex Scam Overview

Originally, Noretex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, con actors employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Noretex Scam

To begin with, Noretex copies the layout of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Qnamo, Ogonto or Quickxtrade. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Presumably, all these scam sites are operated by the same team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Noretex Scam Works?

Noretex is a part of a extensive 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 sophisticated 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 create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), scam actors boost the exposure of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities that advertise 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 Noretex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain an encouragement to register, enticed by the commitment of getting crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Noretex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Noretex, “Start earning with Noretex – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the bonus 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 data, 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, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available for withdrawal 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

Obviously, any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Noretex, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this website hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. 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 retrieve the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that swindlers have 0 intentions to send you money. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC requirements say, but for the Noretex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal data, deceivers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And every check will uncover more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then sold 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 Noretex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Noretex 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.

• Secure Your Actions. Begin by promptly reporting the scam to appropriate local authorities tasked with handling financial fraud. Notify wallet providers and engage with social networks’ technical support teams. By taking these measures, you contribute to making the scammers’ operations significantly more difficult.
• Expand Awareness. Extend your efforts by sharing the scam information with your close friends. This action has a parallel effect to reporting to the authorities, as disseminating details about fraudulent crypto services reduces the potential victims they can deceive.
• Gather Evidence. Preserve comprehensive evidence by capturing screenshots and saving all pertinent data linked to the deceptive website. Collect the URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials could prove invaluable for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments generally fall outside the scope of refund policies within most banks, it’s worth investigating the potential for a refund in specific circumstances. Maintain optimism until you definitively confirm the loss.
• Convert Mistake into Wisdom. Transform your financial setback into a valuable learning experience. Treat your loss as an investment in understanding the tactics of crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their key characteristics, how they lure individuals, and the grandiose promises they make. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be well-equipped to recognize and avoid falling into future traps without incurring further losses.

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 duration of the fraud, scoundrels may reach out to you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we already figured out, these rascals have no intention of restoring your money. So, what can these messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed – this is another component of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly running malicious software onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments attached to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malicious software. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their morality is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to lose and intend to maximize profits.

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