We Looked at the Evidence: Is Waexcoin Legit or Scam?

Recently, Waexcoin.com website appeared, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly reveals it is, actually, a deceptive site.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Waexcoin.com does not fulfill any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Waexcoin Scam Overview

Originally, Waexcoin poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, frauds use deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as 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 vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Waexcoin Scam

First and foremost, Waexcoin copies the appearance of many similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Velamex, Saxyn or Paebiru. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are managed by a single gang of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Waexcoin Scam Works?

Waexcoin is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous 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 sophisticated psychological tricks that make the user believe in the legitimacy 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 generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid promotions (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the visibility of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to register, attracted by the commitment of obtaining cryptocurrency prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all without cost. To increase the appeal of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Waexcoin”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Waexcoin, “Start earning with Waexcoin – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, fraudsters say that getting the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily proceed – especially since the gift 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 register using your personal data, crooks will not be able to earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just said, frauds bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Exclusively 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 it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any crypto purchases require you to have funds on your account. With Waexcoin, users are also coerced to top up to get 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 transferred funds and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that swindlers are naught on intentions to send you money. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but for the Waexcoin.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal information, deceivers 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks 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 Waexcoin.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Waexcoin.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. Waexcoin 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. Waexcoin 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. Waexcoin 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%, Waexcoin capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Waexcoin.com as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Waexcoin 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 duration of the fraud, its actors may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we earlier determined, these scoundrels have no intention of returning your money. So, what do these email messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running harmful programs onto your system.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can serve as a shell for different malware. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As noted, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have no principles to lose and strive to boost profits.

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