Trade101 Reviewed: Legit or Total Ripoff? Read This First

Recently, Trade101.ai service appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a deceptive site.

Despite the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Trade101.ai does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which steals your funds and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Trade101 Scam Overview

Originally, Trade101 poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the fake crypto service as 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 a transparent scam.

Trade101 Scam

First and foremost, Trade101 repeats the appearance of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Zaevex, Vogixo or Velnoryx. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these deceptive online platforms are led by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Trade101 Scam Works?

Trade101 is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use several 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 sophisticated 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 start the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign begins. Employing bots and paid promotions (when achievable), fraud actors boost the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

Promotions of cryptoscams like Trade101 in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users receive an incentive to register, drawn by the commitment of obtaining crypto rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To enhance the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Trade101”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Trade101, “Start earning with Trade101 – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that unlocking the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced 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 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 mentioned, deceivers bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Only 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, you cannot use the promised bonus 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 stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require you to have money on your account. With Trade101, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this website hoping to use all the transferred funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the issues start to surface. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the site 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

There’s no need to explain that swindlers are naught on intentions to give your money back. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Trade101.ai 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 multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And every check 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 Trade101.ai. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Trade101 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. Trade101.ai 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. Trade101 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. Trade101.ai 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%, Trade101 preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Trade101 as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Trade101 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 course of the fraud, scoundrels may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we already determined, these rascals have no intention of returning your funds. So, what do these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into deliberately installing destructive applications onto your computer.

Both add-ons and attachments attached to emails can serve as a carrier for diverse malware. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always greater than zero. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no principles to lose and intend to maximize revenues.

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