We Investigated Tendory: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Tendory.com service appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably reveals it is, in truth, a fraudulent platform.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Tendory.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your money and data and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Tendory Scam Overview

Originally, Tendory poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities promote the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Tendory Scam

First and foremost, Tendory repeats the appearance of many equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Sefdex, Rise or Renutix. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these deceptive sites are operated by the same team of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Tendory Scam Works?

Tendory is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar 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 authenticity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Using bots and sponsored ads (when possible), fraud actors boost the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to enroll, enticed by the assurance of getting cryptocurrency benefits valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promotions, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Tendory”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Tendory, “Start earning with Tendory – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that getting the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, crooks 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 for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency operations require you to have money on your account. With Tendory, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the problems. 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 retrieve 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 are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but for the Tendory.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will uncover more and more information, 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 Tendory.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Tendory 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, rascals may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously determined, these scammers have no intention of giving back your funds. So, what do these emails and browser extensions represent? You guessed – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into willingly installing harmful programs onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments included to email messages can serve as a carrier for different malicious code. In this scenario, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always significant. As stated, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no principles to lose and intend to maximize revenues.

Frequently asked questions