The Zilmex Scam – Don’t Become the Next Victim

Recently, Zilmex.com service popped up, promoting itself as a platform where you can securely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather credible proof that unmistakably confirms it is, actually, a deceptive platform.

Despite the promises of the most easy, dependable, and client-friendly service, Zilmex.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your funds and never gives them back. Any stories about bonuses, endorsement from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Zilmex Scam Overview

Originally, Zilmex poses as a cryptocurrency trading & cryptowallet service with exceptionally low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this service is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to the crypto world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Vitalii Buterin, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look real, con actors employ AI-generated videos where those celebrities 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 vivid wrap around an obvious scam.

Zilmex Scam

To begin with, Zilmex copies the design of numerous similar websites. There are quite a few examples, like Coinryzen, Qufoo or Slerex. They are totally identical in terms of graphic elements, with small discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Probably, all these fraudulent sites are managed by a single gang of fraudsters.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zilmex Scam Works?

Zilmex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use various website designs, which still share the similar overall layout. Another shared 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 advanced 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 establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly target Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign starts. Utilizing bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), fraud actors boost the exposure of their fraudulent activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not shy away using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebrities 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 Zilmex in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users obtain an encouragement to register, attracted by the commitment of obtaining cryptocurrency prizes valued at thousands of dollars, all for free. To increase the attractiveness of the offer, fake suggestions of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these claims are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the ads, victims end up on a page filled with enticing offers. “Crypto starts with Zilmex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zilmex, “Start earning with Zilmex – they look rather authoritative. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that retrieving the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily move on – especially as the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to get away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, swindrels 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 mentioned, frauds bait folks into registration for bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely 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 cryptocurrency purchases on the platform with it, you need to top up the account with the sum of a bonus. At this point, the final stage of the scam kicks in.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require you to have capital on your account. With Zilmex, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates most 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 site hoping to use all the credited money and withdraw them.

This is where the first obvious issues start to surface. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the website says, you can observe that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to withdraw the funds from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters have zero intentions to give your money back. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve crafted a whole bunch of reasons to decline the wireout request. Usually, they repeat what KYC requirements say, but for the Zilmex.com they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal info, frauds 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 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 Zilmex.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Absent company details. Zilmex 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 Zilmex 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 Zilmex, 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 Zilmex is a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Zilmex 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 scam, its masters may get in touch with you with particular files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency funds. As we already determined, these scammers have no intent of returning your capital. So, what can these email messages and browser extensions represent? Correct – that is another element of the scam designed to entice you into deliberately installing harmful applications onto your device.

Both add-ons and files included to email messages can act as a carrier for different malware. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always existent. As previously mentioned, their conscience is of negligible importance, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to give up and strive to boost revenues.

Frequently asked questions