Investigating Xelunax: Legit or Scam? The Truth Exposed

Recently, Xelunax.com website appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable proof that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a fraudulent platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Xelunax.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 tales about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are absent as well.

Xelunax Scam Overview

Originally, Xelunax poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this site 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 says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, rascals use AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Xelunax Scam

First and foremost, Xelunax copies the layout of multiple equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Vartonex, Shaxdex or Trezova. They are entirely identical in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are led by the same group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Xelunax Scam Works?

Xelunax is a part of a significant 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 validity of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To initiate the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Employing bots and paid ads (when achievable), fraud actors intensify the exposure of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using deepfake for creating videos with the aforementioned 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 Xelunax in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get a stimulus to sign up, attracted by the promise of getting crypto prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, users end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Xelunax”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Xelunax, “Start earning with Xelunax – they look rather credible. 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, unaware users happily keep on – especially as the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, crooks will not be able to 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 said, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, crypto wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the claimed bonus is not available for withdrawal right away. To make at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have capital on your account. With Xelunax, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most 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 trading on this website hoping to use all the credited funds and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual cryptocurrency wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers have zero intentions to return your money. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what Know Your Client regulations say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal info, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss 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 every check will share 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 Xelunax.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Xelunax often resorts to fake endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. This fraudulent tactic extends to claiming partnerships with reputable companies like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite lacking any genuine affiliations.
• Cryptocurrency-Only Payments. Xelunax.com exclusively accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, rejecting traditional bank transfers and other methods. This approach not only masks the company’s identity but also eliminates the possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Information. Xelunax raises suspicion by withholding essential ownership, location, and registration details. Furthermore, the absence of legitimate contact information and the recent establishment of domain and social media pages intensify skepticism.
• Unsubstantiated Hype. Xelunax.com employs groundless hype tactics, fabricating events like securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. These manipulative techniques aim to instill false confidence and encourage further investments.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme, leveraging a referral system spread through social media. However, only initial participants benefit, often at the expense of subsequent investors.
• Implausible Claims. Promising returns of 50-100-200%, Xelunax preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Xelunax as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Xelunax 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 duration of the scam, its actors may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto savings. As we earlier determined, these deceivers have no intention of returning your capital. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? Correct – that is another component of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running harmful programs onto your device.

Both add-ons and attachments added to emails can act as a carrier for diverse malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always above zero. As noted, their ethics is of little concern, and their reputation is already neck deep in mud. They have nothing to lose and aim to boost revenues.

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