The Zenofax Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Zenofax.com website appeared, promoting itself as a place where you can securely store cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly confirms it is, in fact, a scam service.

Despite the promises of the most user-friendly, trustworthy, and customer-centric service, Zenofax.com does not offer any of them. In fact, all this is just a gilded wrap around a dirty scam, which steals your money and never gives them back. Any tales about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are absent as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Zenofax Scam Overview

Originally, Zenofax poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright selling point for this site is backing from celebrities that are known in 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 real, rascals employ deepfake videos where those celebrities advertise the fake crypto service as the best thing in the world. For obvious reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Zenofax Scam

Initially, Zenofax repeats the design of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Sag, Xenutix or Zelonor. They are entirely identical in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the website header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are matching. Presumably, all these deceptive online platforms are led by the same group of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zenofax Scam Works?

Zenofax is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use various 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 deceptive scheme, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the advertising campaign starts. Employing bots and sponsored advertisements (when possible), fraud actors increase the visibility of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers 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 enrolls the service immediately.

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

Users get a stimulus to register, attracted by the commitment of getting crypto prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To augment the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the promos, users end up on a page filled with appealing offers. “Crypto starts with Zenofax”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zenofax, “Start earning with Zenofax – they look rather reliable. To heat up the interest and make the users proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the promoted bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

At this point, it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, rascals will not 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, scammers bait folks into signing up for bonuses. And all the personal information 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, swindlers can earn quite a penny. Nonetheless, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the promised bonus is not available to use right away. To make at least cryptocurrency 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 crypto purchases require you to have money on your account. With Zenofax, users are also coerced to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the committed gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start participating on this site hoping to use all the transferred money and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When comparing the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can spot 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

There’s no need to explain that fraudsters are naught on intentions to return your money. But to make it look more legitimate, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC regulations say, but for the Zenofax.com they are here exclusively to make the wireout 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 a dozen other checks you would desperately need to undergo before getting your money back. And each of these checks will share 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 Zenofax.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Zenofax does not provide any documentation about its ownership, location or registration. No legitimate contact details are given either. Moreover, it appears that the domain and all social network pages were registered quite recently.
• Fake sponsorship from a celebrity. Scams like Zenofax like to pick a celebrity as a sponsor of this entire campaign. For obvious reasons, fraudsters generally choose Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, Mark Zuckerberg, and similar celebrities. They do not disdain claiming partnership with a company as well. Even though Coinbase, Binance or MetaMask never heard of Zenofax, they do not care – this creates a halo of credibility.
• Potential Ponzi Scheme. The scam relies on a Ponzi-like referral system to spread reach through social media. In fact, only the first members will receive the payoff, at the cost of the money brought by other members.
• Hype without facts. Frauds can cheer up their victims from time to time, using claims about non-existent events. “We got contracts with Coinbase”, “Elon Musk mentioned us as the most prolific crypto project” – you could likely hear something like that. This is made to make people believe in their money return. This can be the sauce to make people top-up their accounts once again.
• Crypto-only incoming payments. Whether the user tries to top-up the account, hackers will only accept payments in crypto – no bank transfers or other payment methods. Such an approach completely hides the identity of the company and deprives you of the ability to ask for a refund.
• Claims are too good to be true. Let’s be sane and sober: even in crypto space, there are not many places where you can earn 50-100-200%. Being able to participate in all of them is nearly impossible, as well as it is impossible to insure or hedge all the risks. Even by that reason alone I can tell that the Zenofax is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Zenofax 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.

• Immediate Reporting. Your initial step should involve promptly notifying local authorities specializing in financial fraud. Extend your reach by reaching out to wallet providers and engaging with social networks’ technical support teams. These actions serve to raise the bar for the scammers’ operations.
• Share among Friends. Amplify your efforts by informing your close friends about the scam. Similar to informing authorities, this dissemination of information restricts the scammers’ potential victim pool.
• Preserve Crucial Information. Compile a comprehensive evidence archive by capturing screenshots and archiving all relevant website-related data. Collect the website URL, screenshots of the main page, login interface, end-user license agreement (EULA), account top-up menu, and wallet addresses. These records could provide vital clues for authorities in their pursuit of the scammers.
• Exploring Refund Options. While most banks’ refund policies may exclude cryptocurrency payments, it’s advisable to explore potential refund avenues under specific circumstances. Maintain hope until you obtain confirmation of the loss.
• Transform Loss into Knowledge. Turn your financial setback into an opportunity for growth. View your loss as an investment in understanding the strategies employed by crypto scam sites. Familiarize yourself with their telltale characteristics, the methods they employ to entice individuals, and the extravagant promises they make. Equipped with this insight, you’ll be well-prepared to spot and evade future traps without suffering additional 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, its masters may contact you with particular documents. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to streamline access to your crypto funds. As we previously determined, these scoundrels have no plan of returning your capital. So, what can these messages and browser plugins represent? You guessed – that is another element of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly running harmful software onto your computer.

Both plugins and files included to email messages can serve as a carrier for various malicious software. In this situation, I expect the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always significant. As stated, their conscience is of no concern, and their dignity is already deeply compromised. They have no scruples to lose and aim to maximize profits.

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