We Looked Into Xerunax: Scam or Trustworthy? The Verdict

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

Despite the promises of the most easy, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Xerunax.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your funds and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Xerunax Scam Overview

Originally, Xerunax poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors use AI-generated videos where those celebrities promote 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 vivid wrap around a transparent scam.

Xerunax Scam

To begin with, Xerunax shares the design of many similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Xolunor, Xoxodex or Prizmera. They are completely indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are unchanged. Probably, all these scam sites are led by a single group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Xerunax Scam Works?

Xerunax is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the same 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 set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), fraud actors increase the exposure of their fraudulent activities to possible victims. And as I said, crooks do not disdain 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 enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get an encouragement to sign up, drawn by the commitment of receiving cryptocurrency prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake suggestions of cooperation with a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Xerunax”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Xerunax, “Start earning with Xerunax – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially since the bonus appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal information, rascals will not be able to earn even a nickel from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is where the main fraud action begins. As I just mentioned, frauds bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal information needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available to use 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 kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

It is obvious that any crypto purchases require having money on your account. With Xerunax, users are also coerced to top up to claim the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the cash 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 money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the problems. When comparing the real cryptocurrency wallet vs what the site says, you can notice that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to retrieve the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that swindlers are naught on intentions to give your money back. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal data, deceivers just stall hoping for you to understand that you’ve been scammed and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are multiple other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your grand back. And every check will share more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed 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 Xerunax.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Xerunax 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. Xerunax.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. Xerunax 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. Xerunax.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%, Xerunax preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Xerunax as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Xerunax 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 course of the scam, its actors may contact you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier figured out, these scoundrels have no intent of giving back your capital. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly installing harmful programs onto your device.

Both add-ons and attachments attached to email messages can act as a carrier for different malicious code. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other types of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to lose and aim to boost gains.

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