Is Tesfex Legit or Another Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Tesfex.com service 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 confirms it is, in fact, a fraudulent platform.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and client-friendly service, Tesfex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your funds and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Tesfex Scam Overview

Originally, Tesfex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known in 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, frauds employ AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Tesfex Scam

First and foremost, Tesfex repeats the appearance of numerous similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Spinsboss, Spindexo or Joymeli. They are totally undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are managed by the same gang of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Tesfex Scam Works?

Tesfex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the similar 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 advanced 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 mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Using bots and paid advertisements (when possible), fraud actors increase the presence of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the aforementioned celebs that promote 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 Tesfex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the ads, users end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Tesfex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Tesfex, “Start earning with Tesfex – 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 questionable happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially as the gift 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 data, rascals will not be able to earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available to use right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, the user should 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

Eventually, any crypto operations require having capital on your account. With Tesfex, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When comparing the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can spot 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 scoundrels have 0 intentions to give your money back. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC guidelines say, but for the Tesfex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds 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 Tesfex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Tesfex 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 the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

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 scam, fraudsters may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no intention of giving back your money. So, what can these email messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another component of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately installing malicious programs onto your system.

Both plugins and attachments included to emails can serve as a shell for different malicious software. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As noted, their morality is of no concern, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to lose and strive to boost revenues.

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