The Truth About Usdzoe: Legit or Scam? Our Review

Recently, Usdzoe.com site appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a fraudulent site.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and customer-centric service, Usdzoe.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which takes your funds and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Usdzoe Scam Overview

Originally, Usdzoe poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this service 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 more realistic, con actors employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote the fraud as if it was 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.

Usdzoe Scam

To begin with, Usdzoe copies the design of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Upjex, Hopicats or Lynomex. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these fraudulent sites are operated by a single gang of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Usdzoe Scam Works?

Usdzoe is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers 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 sophisticated psychological tricks that make the user believe in the authenticity 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 generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Employing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), scam actors intensify the presence of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promos, targets end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Usdzoe”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Usdzoe, “Start earning with Usdzoe – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that obtaining the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially since 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, rascals will not 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 said, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this info and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any cryptocurrency purchases require having money on your account. In the case of Usdzoe, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this website hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the issues. When keeping an eye on 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 pull out 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 fraudsters are naught on intentions to return your money. Though to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC regulations say, but for the Usdzoe.com they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for your personal information, 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 funds back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Usdzoe.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Usdzoe 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 timeline of the fraud, rascals may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we already determined, these deceivers have no intent of giving back your capital. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – this is another element of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into willingly installing harmful software onto your system.

Both add-ons and attachments added to emails can serve as a shell for different malicious software. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As noted, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to lose and intend to maximize profits.

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