Is Pewgex Legit or Another Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Pewgex.com website appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Pewgex.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Pewgex Scam Overview

Originally, Pewgex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform 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 more realistic, rascals use AI-generated 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 choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Pewgex Scam

Initially, Pewgex shares the design of numerous equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Beastzone, Allcoinx or Advairo. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these deceptive sites are managed by a single gang of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Pewgex Scam Works?

Pewgex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers 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 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 start the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign begins. Employing bots and paid promotions (when feasible), fraud actors increase the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users receive an incentive to enroll, enticed by the promise of obtaining cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the ads, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Pewgex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Pewgex, “Start earning with Pewgex – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that getting the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially since the gift 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 sign up using your personal info, swindrels will not be able to earn even a nickel 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 for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks 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 cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. With Pewgex, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what KYC requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal info, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And every check will uncover 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 Pewgex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Pewgex employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, Pewgex exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Pewgex as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Pewgex arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Pewgex.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. Pewgex utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Pewgex 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.

• Immediate Reporting. Your initial step should involve promptly notifying local authorities specializing in financial fraud. Extend your reach by reaching out to wallet providers and engaging with social networks’ technical support teams. These actions serve to raise the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Share among Friends. Amplify your efforts by informing your close friends about the scam. Similar to informing authorities, this dissemination of information restricts the scammers’ potential victim pool.
• Preserve Crucial Information. Compile a comprehensive evidence archive by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. Collect the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These records could provide vital clues for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Exploring Refund Options. While most banks’ refund policies may exclude cryptocurrency payments, it’s advisable to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain hope until you obtain confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Knowledge. Turn your financial setback into an opportunity for growth. View your loss as an investment in understanding the strategies employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their telltale characteristics, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant promises they make. Equipped with this insight, you’ll be well-prepared to spot and evade future traps without suffering additional 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 reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier figured out, these scoundrels have no plan of restoring your funds. So, what can these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – this is another component of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly running malicious software onto your system.

Both plugins and attachments attached to emails can act as a shell for various malicious software. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to give up and strive to boost revenues.

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