Investigating Wapexs: Legit or Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Wapexs.com site appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a scam site.

Regardless of the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Wapexs.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Wapexs Scam Overview

Originally, Wapexs poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals employ AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the scam as if it was 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 vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Wapexs Scam

First and foremost, Wapexs copies the layout of multiple equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Spacewam, Profluix or Bitmaner. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Presumably, all these scam sites are managed by the same group of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Wapexs Scam Works?

Wapexs is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the similar 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 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 aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when achievable), scam actors intensify the exposure of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebrities 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 Wapexs in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Wapexs”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Wapexs, “Start earning with Wapexs – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get 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, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely 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 alleged bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency operations require having money on your account. With Wapexs, users are also coerced to top up to claim 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 promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When comparing the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the funds 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 return your money. But to make it look more realistic, they’ve developed a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal information, scammers 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 share more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded 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 Wapexs.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Wapexs 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%, Wapexs exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Wapexs as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Wapexs 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. Wapexs.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. Wapexs 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 Wapexs 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 duration of the scam, rascals may reach out to you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we earlier determined, these scoundrels have no intention of restoring your money. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to throw you into willingly running destructive programs onto your computer.

Both extensions and attachments added to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malicious software. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As previously mentioned, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to lose and intend to boost profits.

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