We Investigated Wndzs: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Wndzs.com website popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a scam service.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and customer-centric service, Wndzs.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Wndzs Scam Overview

Originally, Wndzs poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that are known as crypto activists. 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 where those celebrities promote the fraud as the best thing in the world. Obviously, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Wndzs Scam

First and foremost, Wndzs copies the appearance of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Zantua, Dopcn or Dibitcoin. They are entirely undistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Most likely, all these deceptive sites are led by the same group of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Wndzs Scam Works?

Wndzs is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various 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 complex 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 initiate the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored ads (when feasible), fraud actors increase the presence of their scam 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, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get an incentive to register, attracted by the commitment of getting cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all for free. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these claims are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Wndzs”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Wndzs, “Start earning with Wndzs – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that getting the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily keep on – especially as the gift 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 info, frauds 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, deceivers bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this info 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 promised bonus right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, the user should 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 you to have funds on your account. With Wndzs, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the money flow to this fraudulent website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the site 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 return your money. But to make the fraud look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

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

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Wndzs 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 fraud, rascals may get in touch with you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we already determined, these rascals have no intent of giving back your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another component of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into deliberately running harmful software onto your device.

Both extensions and attachments added to email messages can act as a shell for diverse malicious code. In this situation, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of threats. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always significant. As stated, their morality is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to give up and strive to boost profits.

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