Recently, Skyxmoon.com site appeared, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably indicates it is, actually, a deceptive platform.
Contrary to the assertions of Skyxmoon.com, they will never return your funds. Even though the figures displayed in the “member area”, there is zero possibility to withdraw even a coin. All pledges regarding crypto incentives are empty as well.
Skyxmoon Scam Overview
The main offering that Skyxmoon strives to provide is a safe and user-friendly crypto wallet service. The site promises exchange facilities, tools for managing wallets, transfers, dashboards, and the like. In fact, they aim to emulate the functionality of a crypto trading platform, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it in actuality only serves as a cover needed to mislead the cautious.
Initially, Skyxmoon reproduces the layout of many equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Twiterex, Airdropxbits or Bekbit. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these scam websites are operated by the same group of scammers.
Cryptocurrency Scam Summary
| Website | Skyxmoon.com |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 172.67.141.33 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent offers of cryptocurrency services |
How the Skyxmoon Scam Works?
Skyxmoon is yet another online platform within a wide-ranging network of associated crypto scam platforms. The managers employ various brand identities and sites, like Skyxmoon.com, to ensnare victims. Nevertheless, these fraudulent sites possess the same website designs, terms of service, and About Us content. This reveals their sources as a part of the same criminal network, which promotes the similar form of deception under different disguises. The scammers just copy the same fraudulent site under different names to fool users into believing they are participating in a fresh opportunity. However, in reality, it’s the same system of fraudsters orchestrating the deceptive promises and attempts to take deposited funds. The managers shrewdly make use of psychological maneuvers and appealing offers to implement their deceitful plots.
Step 1: Spreading
To start the deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Employing bots and paid advertisements (when possible), fraud actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to possible victims. This tactic allows them to cast a wide net and engage with their aimed viewers. The latter commonly comprises of cryptocurrency enthusiastic individuals looking for chances to make profits.
Step 2: Gaining Traffic
People who demonstrate interest go to Skyxmoon.com via links present in ads or bot-generated posts. The webpage utilizes captivating visuals, design elements that appear genuine, and claims of holding a official license, all aimed to project an initial impression of trustworthiness.
Step 3: Data Gathering
To claim their prizes, users are required to deliberately set up an profile on Skyxmoon and get instructions to submit sensitive and private information during the registration process. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, sharing email addresses, giving phone numbers, submitting identification papers, and more.
Step 4: Requesting funds
Once enrolled, users observe considerable amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at thousands of dollars, within their Skyxmoon wallets. However, as is common with such incentives, you cannot withdraw them ahead of making a deposit. Normally, a funds transfer of $100 is required to access the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the trap that ultimately leads to the money loss.
Step 5: Disappear
The instant the funds transfer is made, the fraudsters cease all communication. They proceed to bar users, remove accounts, and disappear with both the transferred funds and essential personal data. The fabricated prizes continue to be perpetually uncredited, as they lack genuine existence. They act exclusively as a phishing strategy. This approach forms the foundation for the scammers’ ability to deceive victims and embezzle hard-earned earnings through their duplicative web crypto fraud.
Signs of Scam
I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Skyxmoon.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.
- Absent company details. Skyxmoon does not provide any documentation about its ownership, location or registration. No legitimate contact details are given either. Moreover, it appears that the domain and all social network pages were registered quite recently.
- Fake sponsorship from a celebrity. Scams like Skyxmoon like to pick a celebrity as a sponsor of this entire campaign. For obvious reasons, fraudsters generally choose Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, Mark Zuckerberg, and similar celebrities. They do not disdain claiming partnership with a company as well. Even though Coinbase, Binance or MetaMask never heard of Skyxmoon, they do not care – this creates a halo of credibility.
- Potential Ponzi Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral system to spread reach through social media. In fact, only the first members will receive the payoff, at the cost of the money brought by other members.
- Hype without facts. Frauds can cheer up their victims from time to time, using claims about non-existent events. “We got contracts with Coinbase”, “Elon Musk mentioned us as the most prolific crypto project” – you could likely hear something like that. This is made to make people believe in their money return. This can be the sauce to make people top-up their accounts once again.
- Crypto-only incoming payments. Whether the user tries to top-up the account, hackers will only accept payments in crypto – no bank transfers or other payment methods. Such an approach completely hides the identity of the company and deprives you of the ability to ask for a refund.
- Claims are too good to be true. Let’s be sane and sober: even in crypto space, there are not many places where you can earn 50-100-200%. Being able to participate in all of them is nearly impossible, as well as it is impossible to insure or hedge all the risks. Even by that reason alone I can tell that the Skyxmoon is a definite scam.
What Should I do as a Victim?
If you had to deal with Skyxmoon 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 the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
- Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
- Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
- Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
- Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.
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 actors may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we already determined, these scoundrels have no intention of restoring your capital. So, what do these email messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately running harmful applications onto your computer.
Both add-ons and files attached to emails can serve as a shell for various malware. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always significant. As previously mentioned, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to give up and intend to boost gains.
Frequently asked questions
- Contact your bank or card provider and ask about chargeback options.
- Save screenshots, receipts, tracking numbers, and emails as evidence.
- Change reused passwords and enable two-factor authentication on important accounts.
- Watch for follow-up phishing emails pretending to offer refunds or delivery updates.
