The Truth About TRADE-ZCOIN: Legit or Scam? Our Review

Recently, Trade-zcoin.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a deceptive site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and customer-centric service, Trade-zcoin.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

TRADE-ZCOIN Scam Overview

Originally, TRADE-ZCOIN poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this site is backing from 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 more realistic, con actors employ deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fraud as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

TRADE-ZCOIN Scam

First and foremost, TRADE-ZCOIN copies the layout of many equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Celorax, Bitlenix or Avatradea. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these deceptive websites are managed by a single gang of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the TRADE-ZCOIN Scam Works?

TRADE-ZCOIN is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers 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 initiate the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Using bots and paid promotions (when possible), scam actors boost the exposure of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promotions, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with TRADE-ZCOIN”, “Your crypto savings are secured with TRADE-ZCOIN, “Start earning with TRADE-ZCOIN – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily proceed – especially as the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal information, swindrels 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 for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only 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, the promised bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto purchases require having capital on your account. In the case of TRADE-ZCOIN, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this fraudulent website. 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 funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on 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 withdraw 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 send you money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but for the Trade-zcoin.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, frauds 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 money back. And each of these checks will uncover more and more info of yours, 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 Trade-zcoin.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with TRADE-ZCOIN 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 duration of the scam, its actors may contact 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 figured out, these scammers have no intention of returning your funds. So, what can these messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – this is another component of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly installing malicious applications onto your device.

Both plugins and files attached to email messages can function as a carrier for diverse malicious software. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As noted, their morality is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to give up and intend to maximize gains.

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