The Zodefi Scam – What You Need To Know

Recently, Zodefi.com service surfaced, promoting itself as a platform where you can safely keep cryptocurrency and other assets. I managed to gather reliable evidence that clearly confirms it is, in truth, a deceptive service.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, reliable, and client-friendly service, Zodefi.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a shiny wrap around a dirty scam, which takes your money and data and never returns them. Any stories about bonuses, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

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Zodefi Scam Overview

Originally, Zodefi poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with remarkably low commission fees. Another highlighted selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that have relation to 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 AI-generated videos with those celebs advertise the fake crypto service as if it was the best thing in the world. For known 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.

Zodefi Scam

To begin with, Zodefi repeats the appearance of numerous equivalent pages. There are quite a few examples, like Zinadex, Superciex or Stagexswap. They are totally identical in terms of visual elements, with small discrepancies in the website header. Other particulars, and at times even crypto wallet addresses, are the same. Probably, all these deceptive sites are led by a single team of scoundrels.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zodefi Scam Works?

Zodefi is a part of a extensive cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Swindlers who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical 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 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 begin the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on well-liked social media platforms. They generally aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored ads (when achievable), fraud actors boost the visibility of their deceptive activities to potential victims. And as I said, scammers do not disdain using generative AI for creating videos with the mentioned celebrities that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

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

Users get an incentive to enroll, enticed by the promise of getting crypto rewards valued at hundreds of dollars, all free of charge. To enhance the appeal of the offer, fake claims of cooperation with a celebrity are added. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After clicking the ads, targets end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Zodefi”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zodefi, “Start earning with Zodefi – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, scammers say that claiming the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing questionable happens at this point, uninformed users happily keep on – especially as the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to skip the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal info, frauds will not be able to earn even a penny 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 for registration with bonuses. And all the personal data needed for it – username, email, cryptocurrency wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Only by gathering this data and selling it further into the Darknet, fraudsters can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, you cannot use the claimed bonus right away. To make it at least usable for crypto purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final stage of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto operations require having capital on your account. With Zodefi, users are also compelled to top up to use the bonuses. And these top ups is what creates most of the money flow to this scam website. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this site hoping to use all the credited capital and withdraw them.

This, however, is where the victim notices the issues. When keeping an eye on the real cryptocurrency 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 capital 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 return your money. Though to make it look more realistic, they’ve elaborated a whole pack of reasons to decline the withdrawal request. Usually, they repeat what KYC guidelines say, but in this case they are here only to make the wireout impossible.

By requesting your personal information, deceivers 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 should go through before getting your money back. And every check will uncover more and more info of yours, which – you guessed it right – will be then traded 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 Zodefi.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• False Celebrity Sponsorship. Zodefi often resorts to fake endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. This fraudulent tactic extends to claiming partnerships with reputable companies like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask, despite lacking any genuine affiliations.
• Cryptocurrency-Only Payments. Zodefi.com exclusively accepts payments in cryptocurrencies, rejecting traditional bank transfers and other methods. This approach not only masks the company’s identity but also eliminates the possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Information. Zodefi raises suspicion by withholding essential ownership, location, and registration details. Furthermore, the absence of legitimate contact information and the recent establishment of domain and social media pages intensify skepticism.
• Unsubstantiated Hype. Zodefi.com employs groundless hype tactics, fabricating events like securing contracts with Coinbase or receiving endorsements from Elon Musk. These manipulative techniques aim to instill false confidence and encourage further investments.
• Potential Pyramid Scheme. The scam relies on a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme, leveraging a referral system spread through social media. However, only initial participants benefit, often at the expense of subsequent investors.
• Implausible Claims. Promising returns of 50-100-200%, Zodefi preys on the desire for quick profits. Yet, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market makes such gains highly unlikely, definitively labeling Zodefi as a scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Zodefi 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 course of the fraud, fraudsters may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to install “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your crypto funds. As we already figured out, these scammers have no intention of restoring your funds. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? You guessed it right – that is another element of the scam designed to throw you into willingly installing harmful software onto your computer.

Both plugins and attachments included to emails can act as a shell for diverse malicious software. In this situation, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among all types of malicious programs. While it is not obligatory for scammers to distribute malware, the chance is always greater than zero. As previously mentioned, their morality is of negligible importance, and their dignity is already neck deep in mud. They have no scruples to lose and aim to boost profits.

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