ProudChange Review: Legit or Scam? Read This First

Recently, Proudchange.com service popped up, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly reveals it is, in truth, a deceptive site.

Despite what ProudChange site says, they will never refund your money. Even though the numbers displayed in the “member area”, there is no possibility to retrieve even a single penny. All commitments regarding crypto incentives are hollow as well.

ProudChange Scam Overview

The main service that ProudChange aims to provide is a secure and user-friendly cryptocurrency wallet service. The website pledges exchange solutions, tools for handling wallets, transfers, dashboards, and alike functions. In reality, they aim to emulate the functionality of a crypto exchange, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it in fact solely serves as a cover needed to deceive the cautious.

ProudChange Scam

First and foremost, ProudChange mimics the appearance of many equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Sarexe, Sopemax or Spacewum. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these fraudulent websites are managed by the same group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the ProudChange Scam Works?

ProudChange is yet another webpage within a extensive network of linked crypto scam webpages. The operators employ diverse brand names and sites, like Proudchange.com, to capture victims. Nonetheless, these fraudulent sites possess identical designs, terms of service, and About Us content. This reveals their sources as a part of the same scam network, which promotes the identical type of fraud under different disguises. The scammers merely replicate the same fraudulent website under different names to fool users into assuming they are participating in a new platform. However, in reality, it’s the same system of swindlers orchestrating the misleading commitments and undertakings to seize deposited cryptocurrency. The managers shrewdly make use of psychological strategies and captivating invitations to execute their dishonest plans.

Step 1: Spreading

To initiate the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Utilizing bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), fraud actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to potential victims. This strategy allows them to create an extensive net and interact with their focused spectators. The latter commonly consists of cryptocurrency enthusiastic individuals searching for prospects to make profits.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

People who show interest go to Proudchange.com via links included in ads or robotic posts. The website utilizes captivating visuals, design aspects that appear legitimate, and assertions of having a legitimate license, all designed to project an initial image of credibility.

Step 3: Data Gathering

To redeem their prizes, users are required to proactively sign up on ProudChange and receive prompts to submit sensitive and private information during the enrollment process. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, revealing email addresses, specifying phone numbers, furnishing identification documents, and more.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Once signed up, users notice substantial amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at thousands of dollars, within their ProudChange wallets. Nevertheless, as it usually happens with such rewards, you are unable to withdraw them before making a deposit. Normally, a funds transfer of $100 is required to withdraw the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the trap that ultimately results to the money loss.

Step 5: Disappear

The moment the funds transfer is submitted, the fraudsters halt all contact. They go ahead to block users, erase accounts, and vanish with both the transferred capital and essential individual data. The fabricated benefits persist perpetually uncredited, as they lack real existence. They function purely as a deceptive strategy. This method forms the foundation for the deceivers’ capacity to mislead victims and embezzle hard-earned earnings through their duplicative online crypto scheme.

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Proudchange.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with ProudChange 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 duration of the scam, its actors may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no intent of restoring your capital. So, what can these emails and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another element of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately running destructive programs onto your system.

Both extensions and files attached to email messages can serve as a carrier for different malicious code. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to lose and strive to boost revenues.

Frequently asked questions