The Zagrebex Scam – What You Need To Know

Recently, Zagrebex.com website popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly reveals it is, actually, a fraudulent platform.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, dependable, and client-friendly service, Zagrebex.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about gifts, backing from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Zagrebex Scam Overview

Originally, Zagrebex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform is backing from 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, rascals employ deepfake videos with those celebs advertise the scam as if it was the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common choise for that. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Zagrebex Scam

To begin with, Zagrebex shares the layout of numerous similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Aerorium, Necelex or Teerdex. They are entirely indistinguishable in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Most likely, all these scam sites are managed by the same gang of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zagrebex Scam Works?

Zagrebex is a part of a large cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the same 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 complex 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 create and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign begins. Utilizing bots and paid advertisements (when possible), fraud actors boost the visibility of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, crooks do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, deceivers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Zagrebex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zagrebex, “Start earning with Zagrebex – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that claiming the promised bonus requires registration. And since nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially as the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, crooks will not 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 said, frauds bait folks into registration to get bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are 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, the alleged bonus is not available to use right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. At this point, the final stage of the scam begins.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any cryptocurrency purchases require having money on your account. With Zagrebex, users are also forced to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this website hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the first obvious problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the funds 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 elaborated a whole bunch of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client guidelines say, but for the Zagrebex.com they are here only to make the withdrawal 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 would desperately need to undergo before getting your funds back. And each of these checks will share more and more information, 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 Zagrebex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Unsubstantiated Credibility. Zagrebex 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%, Zagrebex exploits the longing for quick profits. However, such gains are unrealistic within the volatile cryptocurrency landscape, unequivocally identifying Zagrebex as a scam.
• Dubious Corporate Information. Zagrebex 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. Zagrebex.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. Zagrebex 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 Zagrebex 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 timeline of the fraud, fraudsters may contact you with particular files. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency savings. As we earlier figured out, these scoundrels have no intention of returning your money. So, what can these email messages and browser extensions represent? You guessed – this is another side of the scam designed to throw you into deliberately running destructive applications onto your system.

Both plugins and attachments attached to emails can act as a shell for diverse malicious code. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of threats. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of little concern, and their dignity is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and aim to maximize profits.

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