We Investigated Yocex: Legit or Scam? The Facts

Recently, Yocex.com website popped up, promoting itself as a place to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable proof that unmistakably reveals it is, actually, a fraudulent platform.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Yocex.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Yocex Scam Overview

Originally, Yocex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this site is backing from celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote 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 mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around a transparent scam.

Yocex Scam

To begin with, Yocex copies the layout of numerous equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Wenexy, Vonef or Green. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with minor discrepancies in the site header. Other specific elements, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Most likely, all these scam sites are led by a single team of swindrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Yocex Scam Works?

Yocex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use several website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another mutual 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 sophisticated 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 initiate the fraud, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), scam actors increase the visibility of their deceptive 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, frauds claim the bonus for every user who enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users obtain an incentive to sign up, drawn by the commitment of getting crypto rewards valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are entirely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Yocex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Yocex, “Start earning with Yocex – they look rather credible. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that obtaining the pledged bonus requires registration. And since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unexperienced users happily keep on – especially since the reward 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, crooks will not be able to earn even a penny 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 data 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, swindlers 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 at least crypto purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. And this is what initiates the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any cryptocurrency purchases require you to have money on your account. With Yocex, users are also compelled to top up to claim the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash 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 trading on this website hoping to use all the deposited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the problems start to surface. When comparing the actual 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 capital from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to give your money back. Though to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC regulations say, but for the Yocex.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting 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 numerous other checks you should go through 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 Yocex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Yocex 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 duration of the scam, scoundrels may reach out to you with specific documents. Alternatively, they may offer you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we previously determined, these scammers have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what do these messages and browser add-ons represent? You guessed it right – this is another side of the deceptive plan designed to throw you into willingly installing harmful applications onto your system.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can function as a shell for diverse malicious code. In this case, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among all kinds of malware. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always greater than zero. As stated, their ethics is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already severely tarnished. They have nothing to lose and aim to maximize gains.

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