Shiba-Dex Reviewed: Real Deal or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Shiba-dex.com website appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly indicates it is, in fact, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most easy, reliable, and customer-centric service, Shiba-dex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Shiba-Dex Scam Overview

Originally, Shiba-Dex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. 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 deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the fraud as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around a transparent scam.

Shiba-Dex Scam

Initially, Shiba-Dex copies the layout of multiple equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Saedex, Terunax or Vegobit. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these deceptive online platforms are led by the same gang of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Shiba-Dex Scam Works?

Shiba-Dex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 advanced 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 begin the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign begins. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), scam actors boost the presence of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities 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 Shiba-Dex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain an encouragement to enroll, attracted by the promise of getting cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promos, users end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Shiba-Dex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Shiba-Dex, “Start earning with Shiba-Dex – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that getting the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily move on – especially as 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 register 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 the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, frauds bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require having funds on your account. With Shiba-Dex, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

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

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels have 0 intentions to return your money. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Shiba-dex.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal info, frauds 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 each of these checks will reveal more and more info of yours, 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 Shiba-dex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Shiba-Dex 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%, Shiba-Dex exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Shiba-Dex as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Shiba-Dex 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. Shiba-dex.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. Shiba-Dex 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 Shiba-Dex 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 timeline of the fraud, its masters may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we already figured out, these scoundrels have no intention of returning your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – that is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running harmful software onto your system.

Both plugins and attachments included to emails can act as a shell for different malicious code. In this scenario, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As noted, their morality is of no concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to lose and intend to maximize profits.

Remove spyware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common malicious programs as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove spyware as well as other malware hiding on your computer.

To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:

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