The Truth About Upcoines: Legit or Scam? Our Review

Recently, Upcoines.com service popped up, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly confirms it is, actually, a fraudulent site.

Despite what Upcoines site says, they won’t ever give back your money. Despite the numbers displayed in the “member area”, there is absolutely no means to withdraw even a penny. All promises regarding crypto incentives are empty as well.

Upcoines Scam Overview

The main offering that Upcoines strives to provide is a secure and convenient crypto wallet service. The website promises exchange solutions, tools for managing wallets, transfers, dashboards, and the like. In truth, they endeavor to emulate the functionality of a crypto trading platform, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it actually only serves as a shell intended to mislead the cautious.

Upcoines Scam

Initially, Upcoines mimics the appearance of many similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Skytorex, Sawteslax or Pegotex. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these deceptive sites are operated by a single gang of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Upcoines Scam Works?

Upcoines is yet another webpage within a vast network of linked crypto scam sites. The administrators utilize different brand titles and websites, like Upcoines.com, to trap victims. However, these deceptive sites share the same website designs, terms of service, and About information. This exposes their beginnings as a part of the equal criminal network, which advocates the similar type of fraud under diverse appearances. The deceivers simply replicate the equal deceptive site under diverse names to deceive users into assuming they are participating in a new venture. However, in actuality, it’s the same group of fraudsters orchestrating the fraudulent pledges and undertakings to seize deposited money. The operators cleverly utilize psychological strategies and enticing invitations to carry out their dishonest plans.

Step 1: Spreading

To begin the scam, criminals create and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign commences. Using bots and paid ads (when feasible), scam actors intensify the presence of their deceptive activities to possible victims. This approach enables them to cast a wide net and engage with their targeted audience. The latter typically comprises of cryptocurrency enthusiasts looking for opportunities to earn profits.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

People who express interest check out Upcoines.com via links featured in promotions or robotic posts. The webpage utilizes captivating visuals, design aspects that appear legitimate, and assertions of possessing a official license, all aimed to present an initial perception of trustworthiness.

Step 3: Data Gathering

To collect their prizes, users must deliberately sign up on Upcoines and get instructions to provide sensitive and private data throughout the registration process. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, sharing email addresses, giving phone numbers, furnishing identification documents, and the like.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Once enrolled, users notice considerable amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at hundreds of dollars, within their Upcoines wallets. Nonetheless, as is standard with such rewards, you are unable to withdraw them ahead of topping up your account. Typically, a deposit of $100 is asked to access the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the enticement that ultimately leads to the money loss.

Step 5: Disappear

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Upcoines.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Upcoines 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 scam, its actors may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we earlier determined, these rascals have no intent of giving back your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another element of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running harmful applications onto your system.

Both plugins and files added to email messages can act as a shell for diverse malicious software. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As previously mentioned, their morality is of little concern, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to give up and aim to boost gains.

Frequently asked questions