We Investigated Ventorux: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Ventorux.com site appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that unmistakably indicates it is, in truth, a fraudulent site.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Ventorux.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Ventorux Scam Overview

Originally, Ventorux poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this platform is backing from 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, con actors employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Ventorux Scam

To begin with, Ventorux copies the appearance of multiple equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Velunur, Sainled or Rxbet. They are entirely identical in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Most likely, all these scam websites are operated by a single team of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Ventorux Scam Works?

Ventorux is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the same 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 advanced 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 deceptive scheme, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid ads (when feasible), fraud actors increase the presence of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips 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 joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to register, enticed by the promise of receiving crypto rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To enhance the appeal of the offer, false claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the ads, users end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Ventorux”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Ventorux, “Start earning with Ventorux – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal info, frauds 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 said, frauds bait folks into registration for bonuses. And all the personal info 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, you cannot use the claimed bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, 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 cryptocurrency operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of Ventorux, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the money 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 give your money back. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Ventorux.com they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal info, deceivers 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 information, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed 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 Ventorux.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Ventorux.com insists on cryptocurrency payments exclusively, excluding conventional methods like bank transfers. This strategy ensures anonymity for the scam and eliminates any possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Credentials. Ventorux arouses suspicion by failing to provide critical information about ownership, location, and legal registration. The lack of valid contact details and the recent creation of domain and social media profiles cast doubt on its legitimacy.
• Baseless Hype Generation. Ventorux resorts to fabricating non-existent achievements, such as contracts with Coinbase or endorsements from Elon Musk, to manipulate emotions and enhance the perception of potential returns, enticing victims to invest more.
• Fictitious Celebrity Association. Ventorux employs a deceptive tactic by falsely associating itself with well-known figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, the scam falsely claims partnerships with established entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask to bolster its false credibility.
• Potential Ponzi-Like Model. The scam operates on a pyramid-style referral system disseminated through social media, benefiting only initial participants and relying on later investments to sustain the illusion.
• Unrealistic Profit Promises. Promising improbable returns of 50-100-200%, Ventorux capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Ventorux.com as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Ventorux 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.

• Secure Your Actions. Begin by promptly reporting the scam to appropriate local authorities tasked with handling financial fraud. Notify wallet providers and engage with social networks’ technical support teams. By taking these measures, you contribute to making the scammers’ operations significantly more difficult.
• Expand Awareness. Extend your efforts by sharing the scam information with your close friends. This action has a parallel effect to reporting to the authorities, as disseminating details about fraudulent crypto services reduces the potential victims they can deceive.
• Gather Evidence. Preserve comprehensive evidence by capturing screenshots and saving all pertinent data linked to the deceptive website. Collect the URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These materials could prove invaluable for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Explore Refund Possibilities. While cryptocurrency payments generally fall outside the scope of refund policies within most banks, it’s worth investigating the potential for a refund in specific circumstances. Maintain optimism until you definitively confirm the loss.
• Convert Mistake into Wisdom. Transform your financial setback into a valuable learning experience. Treat your loss as an investment in understanding the tactics of crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their key characteristics, how they lure individuals, and the grandiose promises they make. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be well-equipped to recognize and avoid falling into future traps without incurring further losses.

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, its actors may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto assets. As we already figured out, these deceivers have no intention of restoring your money. So, what do these emails and browser add-ons represent? You guessed – this is another element of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately installing destructive programs onto your computer.

Both add-ons and files included to email messages can act as a carrier for diverse malware. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always significant. As noted, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to give up and strive to boost gains.

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