We Investigated Vozdex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Vozdex.com website appeared, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably indicates it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Vozdex.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which steals your money and never returns them. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Vozdex Scam Overview

Originally, Vozdex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted marketing point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known in 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 use AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the scam as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Vozdex Scam

To begin with, Vozdex shares the design of many similar pages. There are quite a few examples, like Tohvex, Tertox or Swapex. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these scam websites are managed by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Vozdex Scam Works?

Vozdex is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the identical 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 complex 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 fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when achievable), scam actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get an encouragement to enroll, enticed by the promise of getting crypto benefits valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the promotions, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Vozdex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Vozdex, “Start earning with Vozdex – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that unlocking the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep on – especially since the gift 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 information, swindrels will not be able to 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, scammers bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Solely 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 alleged bonus right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to 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 crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. In the case of Vozdex, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money 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 participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited capital 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 capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but for the Vozdex.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 numerous other checks you should go through before getting your money back. And each of these checks will uncover 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 Vozdex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Vozdex 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 course of the scam, rascals may get in touch with you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously figured out, these rascals have no intent of returning your funds. So, what can these messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into deliberately installing harmful applications onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments added to emails can serve as a shell for different malicious software. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to lose and strive to maximize gains.

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