Investigating TAXTAY: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Taxtay.com website surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably confirms it is, in truth, a scam site.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, reliable, and client-friendly service, Taxtay.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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TAXTAY Scam Overview

Originally, TAXTAY poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds employ deepfake videos where those celebrities promote the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

TAXTAY Scam

To begin with, TAXTAY shares the layout of many similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Solstrade, Btcdff or Skyxcoin. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these deceptive online platforms are managed by the same team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the TAXTAY Scam Works?

TAXTAY is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another mutual 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 start the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored ads (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the exposure of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that advertise 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 TAXTAY in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get an encouragement to register, attracted by the promise of obtaining cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To augment the appeal of the offer, false suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with TAXTAY”, “Your crypto savings are secured with TAXTAY, “Start earning with TAXTAY – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that retrieving the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily move on – especially as the gift 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 data, rascals will not be able to 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 into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available to use 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 stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require having funds on your account. In the case of TAXTAY, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this website hoping to use all the transferred funds and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the problems. When comparing the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out 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. Though to make the denial look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Taxtay.com they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal data, frauds just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you should go through before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will share more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then sold 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 Taxtay.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. TAXTAY employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, TAXTAY exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying TAXTAY as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. TAXTAY arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Taxtay.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. TAXTAY utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with TAXTAY 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 duration of the fraud, its masters may reach out to you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto funds. As we previously determined, these scoundrels have no plan of giving back your money. So, what can these messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – this is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly installing malicious applications onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments added to email messages can act as a carrier for different malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As stated, their conscience is of no concern, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to give up and aim to maximize gains.

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