Recently, Vellydex.com site popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably confirms it is, actually, a fraudulent service.
Contrary to the statements of Vellydex.com, they won’t ever give back your money. Regardless of the numbers displayed in the “member area”, there is zero possibility to retrieve even a single coin. All pledges regarding crypto incentives are hollow as well.
Vellydex Scam Overview
The key feature that Vellydex attempts to provide is a secure and convenient cryptocurrency wallet service. The site promises exchange facilities, tools for handling wallets, transfers, dashboards, and the like. In fact, they aim to emulate the functionality of a crypto trading platform, akin to Binance or Coinbase. However, it in actuality solely serves as a shell intended to deceive the cautious.
First and foremost, Vellydex reproduces the design of numerous similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Staryxbit, Purexcoin or Jecoinex. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are managed by a single gang of frauds.
Cryptocurrency Scam Summary
| Website | Vellydex.com |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 188.114.96.3 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent offers of cryptocurrency services |
How the Vellydex Scam Works?
Vellydex is yet another online platform within a wide-ranging network of associated crypto fraudulent platforms. The managers employ diverse brand titles and websites, like Vellydex.com, to trap victims. However, these false sites have in common the same designs, terms of service, and About information. This unveils their origins as parts of the identical criminal network, which promotes the similar form of fraud under different covers. The deceivers just copy the identical deceptive website under diverse names to fool users into thinking they are enrolling a fresh opportunity. However, in reality, it’s the equal group of scammers orchestrating the deceptive pledges and efforts to seize deposited money. The operators shrewdly make use of psychological maneuvers and enticing invitations to execute their dishonest plots.
Step 1: Spreading
To initiate the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Employing bots and paid advertisements (when possible), scam actors boost the visibility of their scam activities to possible victims. This strategy permits them to cast an extensive net and interact with their targeted spectators. The audience typically consists of cryptocurrency enthusiasts searching for opportunities to earn profits.
Step 2: Gaining Traffic
Users who express interest go to Vellydex.com via links included in advertisements or robotic posts. The website utilizes captivating visuals, design elements that appear authentic, and assertions of possessing a legitimate license, all designed to convey an initial impression of reliability.
Step 3: Data Gathering
To claim their benefits, users need to proactively sign up on Vellydex and receive prompts to submit sensitive and private data throughout the registration procedure. This includes linking their cryptocurrency wallets, sharing email addresses, giving phone numbers, sending in identification papers, and the like.
Step 4: Requesting funds
Once enrolled, users notice considerable amounts of cryptocurrency, valued at thousands of dollars, within their Vellydex wallets. Nonetheless, as is common with such incentives, you are unable to withdraw them before making a deposit. Usually, a payment of $100 is asked to access the sign-up bonus. This condition serves as the enticement that ultimately results to the money loss.
Step 5: Disappear
Signs of Scam
I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Vellydex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.
- Absent company details. Vellydex 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 Vellydex 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 Vellydex, 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 Vellydex is a definite scam.
What Should I do as a Victim?
If you had to deal with Vellydex 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 the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
- Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
- Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
- Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
- Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.
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 scam, rascals may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we previously figured out, these deceivers have no plan of returning your money. So, what can these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running harmful applications onto your device.
Both add-ons and attachments included to email messages can act as a shell for various malware. In this scenario, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always above zero. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to give up and strive to boost revenues.
Frequently asked questions
- Contact your bank or card provider and ask about chargeback options.
- Save screenshots, receipts, tracking numbers, and emails as evidence.
- Change reused passwords and enable two-factor authentication on important accounts.
- Watch for follow-up phishing emails pretending to offer refunds or delivery updates.
