We Investigated VILONEX: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Vilonex.com site appeared, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather credible evidence that clearly indicates it is, in truth, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most easy, dependable, and client-friendly service, Vilonex.com does not fulfill any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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VILONEX Scam Overview

Originally, VILONEX poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with remarkably low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this site is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals employ deepfake videos with those celebs promote 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 said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

VILONEX Scam

Initially, VILONEX repeats the layout of many similar online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Woxgex, Zayinvest or Zeltonix. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these scam websites are managed by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the VILONEX Scam Works?

VILONEX is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the same 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign begins. Using bots and paid advertisements (when possible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get a stimulus to sign up, attracted by the promise of receiving crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To augment the appeal of the offer, fake suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with VILONEX”, “Your crypto savings are secured with VILONEX, “Start earning with VILONEX – they look rather credible. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that obtaining the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, unexperienced users happily move on – 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, 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 mentioned, deceivers bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively 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 claimed bonus right away. To make at least cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have capital on your account. With VILONEX, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this website hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can notice 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 have 0 intentions to give your money back. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what KYC requirements say, but for the Vilonex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal info, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And every check will share more and more info of yours, 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 Vilonex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. VILONEX employs fraudulent celebrity endorsements, often featuring names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. These false claims extend to fictitious partnerships with reputable entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite the absence of genuine connections.
• Implausible Earnings Claims. Promising remarkable returns of 50-100-200%, VILONEX exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying VILONEX as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. VILONEX arouses suspicion by providing inadequate documentation about ownership, location, and registration. Furthermore, the lack of legitimate contact information and the recent registration of domain and social media profiles deepen skepticism.
• Exclusive Cryptocurrency Payments. Vilonex.com solely accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, refraining from traditional bank transfers and other payment methods. This approach not only shrouds the company’s identity but also prevents the possibility of requesting refunds.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral structure disseminated through social media. Nevertheless, only initial participants profit, often at the expense of funds brought in by subsequent members.
• Groundless Hype Tactics. VILONEX utilizes fabricated claims about non-existent events, such as securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. This manipulative strategy aims to foster belief in money returns and encourages individuals to top up their accounts again.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with VILONEX 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 fraud, rascals may get in touch with you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto funds. As we earlier determined, these scammers have no intent of restoring your capital. So, what can these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running destructive programs onto your computer.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can serve as a shell for different malware. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to give up and strive to boost gains.

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