Smartxbit Reviewed: Legit or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Smartxbit.com website surfaced, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly confirms it is, actually, a fraudulent site.

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

Smartxbit Scam Overview

Originally, Smartxbit poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this platform 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 claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the fraud as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Smartxbit Scam

To begin with, Smartxbit copies the design of numerous similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Microwex, Micfex or Dipxrend. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these fraudulent websites are operated by a single group of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Smartxbit Scam Works?

Smartxbit is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the same 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 legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To begin the deceptive scheme, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Using bots and paid ads (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the visibility of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away 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 enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get a stimulus to enroll, enticed by the assurance of receiving crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Smartxbit”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Smartxbit, “Start earning with Smartxbit – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially as the gift 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, rascals will not 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 mentioned, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – is 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, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any cryptocurrency operations require having money on your account. In the case of Smartxbit, users are also compelled to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the transferred funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the problems start to surface. When comparing the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters are naught on intentions to return your money. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal data, deceivers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Smartxbit.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Smartxbit 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 course of the fraud, its actors may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we already figured out, these scammers have no plan of restoring your money. So, what can these emails and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another element of the scam designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive programs onto your device.

Both plugins and attachments attached to email messages can act as a shell for diverse malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their morality is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to lose and strive to maximize profits.

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