We Investigated Sweetex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Sweetex.net site appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly indicates it is, actually, a scam site.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Sweetex.net does not follow any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Sweetex Scam Overview

Originally, Sweetex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this site 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 more realistic, rascals employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Sweetex Scam

Initially, Sweetex repeats the design of numerous similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Btimrat, Bomolyx or Bitxelo. They are entirely indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive online platforms are operated by a single team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Sweetex Scam Works?

Sweetex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the same 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 complex 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 initiate the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Employing bots and sponsored promotions (when feasible), fraud actors intensify the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the mentioned 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 Sweetex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an encouragement to sign up, enticed by the promise of obtaining crypto rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

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

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal information, crooks will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just mentioned, frauds bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this information 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 equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require you to have money on your account. With Sweetex, users are also forced to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, 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 withdraw 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 fraudsters have 0 intentions to give your money back. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC requirements say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, scammers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And every check 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 Sweetex.net. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Sweetex 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.

• Immediate Reporting. Your initial step should involve promptly notifying local authorities specializing in financial fraud. Extend your reach by reaching out to wallet providers and engaging with social networks’ technical support teams. These actions serve to raise the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Share among Friends. Amplify your efforts by informing your close friends about the scam. Similar to informing authorities, this dissemination of information restricts the scammers’ potential victim pool.
• Preserve Crucial Information. Compile a comprehensive evidence archive by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. Collect the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These records could provide vital clues for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Exploring Refund Options. While most banks’ refund policies may exclude cryptocurrency payments, it’s advisable to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain hope until you obtain confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Knowledge. Turn your financial setback into an opportunity for growth. View your loss as an investment in understanding the strategies employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their telltale characteristics, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant promises they make. Equipped with this insight, you’ll be well-prepared to spot and evade future traps without suffering additional 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 actors may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we earlier determined, these scoundrels have no plan of returning your funds. So, what can these email messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately installing destructive software onto your system.

Both plugins and files included to emails can serve as a carrier for various malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always above zero. As previously mentioned, their morality is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to give up and intend to boost revenues.

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