We Investigated Torwex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Torwex.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly reveals it is, in fact, a deceptive platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, reliable, and client-friendly service, Torwex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money 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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Torwex Scam Overview

Originally, Torwex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Torwex Scam

To begin with, Torwex shares the design of many equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Telavax, Necelax or Mongalex. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these scam online platforms are operated by the same team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Torwex Scam Works?

Torwex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Using bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), fraud actors increase the visibility of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI 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 joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain a stimulus to sign up, drawn by the assurance of getting crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, false suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Torwex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Torwex, “Start earning with Torwex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, frauds 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, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised 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 sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require having capital on your account. In the case of Torwex, users are also compelled to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised 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 issues. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can notice 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

Needless to say that fraudsters are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal information, deceivers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And every check will share more and more information, 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 Torwex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Torwex 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 timeline of the fraud, its actors may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto savings. As we already determined, these rascals have no intent of giving back your funds. So, what can these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed – that is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into willingly running malicious applications onto your device.

Both extensions and files included to email messages can serve as a shell for various malware. In this scenario, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always significant. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to give up and intend to maximize gains.

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