The Webchangex Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Webchangex.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a place to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a fraudulent service.

Despite the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Webchangex.com does not follow any of them. In fact, all this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which steals your funds and never gives them back. Any stories about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Webchangex Scam Overview

Originally, Webchangex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, frauds employ deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the scam 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 a transparent scam.

Webchangex Scam

To begin with, Webchangex shares the design of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Chainhaven, Tanerex or Verunax. They are completely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Presumably, all these scam sites are operated by a single gang of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Webchangex Scam Works?

Webchangex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another shared 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 fraud, criminals create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign begins. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), fraud actors increase the exposure of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the aforementioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users receive an encouragement to sign up, enticed by the assurance of receiving cryptocurrency rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To increase the appeal of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Webchangex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Webchangex, “Start earning with Webchangex – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unexperienced users happily proceed – especially as 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 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 for 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, crooks 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 cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require having funds on your account. In the case of Webchangex, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This is where the issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the capital 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 send you money. But to make it look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Webchangex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal data, scammers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, 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 Webchangex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Webchangex 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 scam, its masters may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we already determined, these scammers have no intent of restoring your funds. So, what do these email messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – this is another side of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful applications onto your system.

Both extensions and attachments attached to email messages can function as a carrier for various malware. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always significant. As stated, their ethics is of no concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no principles to give up and intend to boost revenues.

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