The Sundropex Scam – What You Need To Know

Recently, Sundropex.com website popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a scam service.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and client-friendly service, Sundropex.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Sundropex Scam Overview

Originally, Sundropex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, con actors use AI-generated videos where those celebrities promote the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Sundropex Scam

To begin with, Sundropex shares the layout of numerous equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Starcryptex, Suldex or Vkevex. They are totally indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are led by a single group of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Sundropex Scam Works?

Sundropex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the identical 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 complex psychological tricks that make the user believe in the validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To begin the deceptive scheme, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored promotions (when feasible), scam actors increase the presence of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos 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 Sundropex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an incentive to enroll, enticed by the promise of receiving crypto rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To augment the appeal of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promos, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Sundropex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Sundropex, “Start earning with Sundropex – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that unlocking the promoted bonus requires registration. And since nothing questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, rascals will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just said, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require having money on your account. In the case of Sundropex, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this website hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site 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

There’s no need to explain that scoundrels have 0 intentions to send you money. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Sundropex.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal data, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks will share more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded 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 Sundropex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Sundropex 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 course of the scam, its masters may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto assets. As we previously determined, these scoundrels have no plan of restoring your funds. So, what do these messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed – this is another side of the scam designed to entice you into willingly installing malicious programs onto your system.

Both add-ons and files included to email messages can act as a carrier for various malware. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As previously mentioned, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to give up and strive to boost revenues.

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