The Xelonmex Scam – What You Need To Know

Recently, Xelonmex.com site popped up, promoting itself as a place where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible evidence that unmistakably reveals it is, in fact, a scam site.

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

Xelonmex Scam Overview

Originally, Xelonmex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this service is backing from celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. 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 real, con actors employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service 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.

Xelonmex Scam

First and foremost, Xelonmex copies the appearance of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Xcoinwex, Vautes or Vadorno. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Presumably, all these scam websites are led by a single gang of scammers.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Xelonmex Scam Works?

Xelonmex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals 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 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 begin the scam, criminals establish and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign begins. Employing bots and paid advertisements (when feasible), scam actors intensify the visibility of their deceptive activities to possible victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using deepfake for creating videos with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promotions, victims end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Xelonmex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Xelonmex, “Start earning with Xelonmex – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, frauds will not earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks into signing up to get bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – username, email, crypto 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 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. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto purchases require you to have capital on your account. In the case of Xelonmex, users are also compelled to top up to use 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 pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start trading on this site hoping to use all the credited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that scoundrels have no intentions to return your money. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By asking for 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 numerous other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks will reveal 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 Xelonmex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Xelonmex 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%, Xelonmex exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Xelonmex as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Xelonmex 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. Xelonmex.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. Xelonmex 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 Xelonmex 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 timeline of the fraud, its masters may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously determined, these scoundrels have no intention of returning your money. So, what can these email messages and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly running harmful programs onto your system.

Both extensions and attachments included to email messages can function as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this scenario, I expect 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 above zero. As noted, their morality is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to lose and intend to boost gains.

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