The Spacefortrade Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Spacefortrade.com site surfaced, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly indicates it is, actually, a deceptive service.

Contrary to the statements of Spacefortrade.com, they won’t refund your money. Even though the money displayed in the “member area”, there is absolutely no way to take out even a cent. All commitments regarding crypto rewards are hollow as well.

Spacefortrade Scam Overview

The main feature that Spacefortrade aims to provide is a safe and user-friendly cryptocurrency wallet service. The website promises exchange services, tools for controlling wallets, transfers, dashboards, and the like. In truth, they endeavor to emulate the functionality of a crypto exchange, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it actually exclusively serves as a shell intended to lull the vigilance.

Spacefortrade Scam

To begin with, Spacefortrade imitates the appearance of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Skybuyx, Quatnex or Sanpump. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these fraudulent sites are led by the same gang of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Spacefortrade Scam Works?

Spacefortrade is yet another online platform within a extensive network of interconnected crypto fraudulent webpages. The operators employ different brand identities and websites, like Spacefortrade.com, to trap victims. Nonetheless, these false sites have in common matching website designs, terms of service, and About Us information. This reveals their origins as parts of the identical scam network, which promotes the similar form of scam under diverse covers. The scammers just duplicate the equal deceptive website under diverse names to mislead users into believing they are enrolling a new platform. However, in reality, it’s the equal group of fraudsters orchestrating the misleading commitments and efforts to seize deposited money. The administrators skillfully make use of psychological tactics and appealing propositions to implement their dishonest schemes.

Step 1: Spreading

To begin the fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Utilizing bots and paid promotions (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. This tactic enables them to cast a broad net and connect with their focused audience. The latter typically consists of cryptocurrency enthusiasts looking for chances to generate profits.

Users get a stimulus to sign up, attracted by the promise of obtaining crypto rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To augment the appeal of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Users who express interest check out Spacefortrade.com via links featured in ads or bot-generated posts. The website employs captivating visuals, design elements that appear authentic, and assertions of holding a legitimate license, all aimed to convey an initial image of credibility.

Step 3: Data Gathering

To collect their benefits, users need to deliberately sign up on Spacefortrade and receive guidance to submit sensitive and personal data throughout the registration procedure. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, providing email addresses, supplying phone numbers, furnishing identification documents, and the like.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Once registered, users notice significant amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at thousands of dollars, within their Spacefortrade wallets. However, as is common with such rewards, you are unable to withdraw them prior to making a deposit. Normally, a payment of $100 is asked to withdraw the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the enticement that eventually leads to the money loss.

Step 5: Disappear

Signs of Scam

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

• Absent company details. Spacefortrade 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 Spacefortrade 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 Spacefortrade, 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 Spacefortrade is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Spacefortrade 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.

• Secure Your Actions. Begin by promptly reporting the scam to appropriate local authorities tasked with handling financial fraud. Notify wallet providers and engage with social networks’ technical support teams. By taking these measures, you contribute to making the scammers’ operations significantly more difficult.
• Expand Awareness. Extend your efforts by sharing the scam information with your close friends. This action has a parallel effect to reporting to the authorities, as disseminating details about fraudulent crypto services reduces the potential victims they can deceive.
• Gather Evidence. Preserve comprehensive evidence by capturing screenshots and saving all pertinent data linked to the deceptive website. Collect the URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials could prove invaluable for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments generally fall outside the scope of refund policies within most banks, it’s worth investigating the potential for a refund in specific circumstances. Maintain optimism until you definitively confirm the loss.
• Convert Mistake into Wisdom. Transform your financial setback into a valuable learning experience. Treat your loss as an investment in understanding the tactics of crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their key characteristics, how they lure individuals, and the grandiose promises they make. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be well-equipped to recognize and avoid falling into future traps without incurring further losses.

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 masters may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we previously figured out, these scammers have no intent of restoring your funds. So, what can these email messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – that is another component of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately installing destructive applications onto your computer.

Both plugins and attachments attached to email messages can function as a carrier for different malicious code. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have nothing to give up and aim to maximize gains.

Frequently asked questions