Is Zelonor Legit or Another Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Zelonor.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a place where you can safely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible supporting information that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a deceptive platform.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, reliable, and client-friendly service, Zelonor.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your funds and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, backing from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Zelonor Scam Overview

Originally, Zelonor poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with outstandingly low commission fees. Another notable marketing point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look real, rascals use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I said in the introduction, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Zelonor Scam

First and foremost, Zelonor copies the design of many equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Sag, Wazxdex or Xelunax. They are completely identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Most likely, all these deceptive websites are operated by a single team of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zelonor Scam Works?

Zelonor is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Scammers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 sophisticated 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 start the fraud, criminals establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when feasible), fraud actors boost the exposure of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that promote their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon following the promotions, targets end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Zelonor”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zelonor, “Start earning with Zelonor – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that obtaining the promised bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily move 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 info, rascals 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 said, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, crypto 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. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the alleged bonus 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

Obviously, any cryptocurrency purchases require having money on your account. In the case of Zelonor, users are also compelled to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the cash flow to this scam site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the promised gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this website hoping to use all the transferred capital and withdraw them.

This is where the problems start to surface. When keeping an eye on the actual crypto 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

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to send you money. Though to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Most of them repeat what Know Your Client requirements say, but in this case they are here only to make the withdrawal impossible.

By asking for your personal info, deceivers just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are numerous other checks you should go through before getting your grand back. And every check will reveal more and more info of yours, 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 Zelonor.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Zelonor 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 course of the scam, scoundrels may contact you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your crypto savings. As we already figured out, these rascals have no plan of returning your funds. So, what can these emails and browser plugins represent? Correct – this is another component of the scam designed to throw you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your device.

Both add-ons and files added to emails can serve as a carrier for diverse malicious software. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among all forms of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always existent. As noted, their conscience is of little concern, and their reputation is already seriously marred. They have no scruples to give up and aim to boost profits.

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