We Investigated Vetradex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Vetradex.com service appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly confirms it is, actually, a fraudulent site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, dependable, and client-friendly service, Vetradex.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and never gives them back. Any tales about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Vetradex Scam Overview

Originally, Vetradex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors employ AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the fraud 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 glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Vetradex Scam

To begin with, Vetradex shares the appearance of many similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Uniker, Bitflyer or Excotrade. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are operated by the same gang of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Vetradex Scam Works?

Vetradex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another mutual 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 initiate the deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Using bots and sponsored ads (when possible), scam actors increase the exposure of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos 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 Vetradex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to enroll, attracted by the assurance of obtaining crypto prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all free of charge. To augment the appeal of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Vetradex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Vetradex, “Start earning with Vetradex – they look rather authoritative. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep on – especially as the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, crooks will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available to use right away. To make at least cryptocurrency 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 begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto operations require you to have money on your account. In the case of Vetradex, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent 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 first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that scoundrels have zero intentions to send you money. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Vetradex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, 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 should go through before getting your grand back. And each of these checks will reveal 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 Vetradex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Vetradex 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, fraudsters may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we already figured out, these deceivers have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what can these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another element of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately running malicious software onto your computer.

Both plugins and attachments added to emails can act as a carrier for various malicious code. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As stated, their ethics is of no concern, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have no scruples to give up and intend to boost profits.

Remove spyware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

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