The Truth About Zonebex: Legit or Scam? Our Review

Recently, Zonebex.com service appeared, promoting itself as a platform to keep cryptocurrency and other assets safely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that unmistakably confirms it is, actually, a scam platform.

Regardless of the promises of the most easy, reliable, and customer-centric service, Zonebex.com does not offer any of them. All this is just a golden wrap around a blatant scam, which takes your money and data and never gives them back. Any stories about gifts, endorsement from celebrities etc are non-existent as well.

Zonebex Scam Overview

Originally, Zonebex poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another bright marketing point for this platform is partnerships with celebrities that are known in the crypto world. Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Vitalii Buterin, Jeff Bezos – the site says about being supported by them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors use AI-generated videos with those celebs promote the fraud 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 glaring wrap around an obvious scam.

Zonebex Scam

To begin with, Zonebex repeats the layout of many equivalent online platforms. There are quite a few examples, like Zamdrex, Bezhex or Bitxmars. They are entirely indistinguishable in terms of visual elements, with slight discrepancies in the webpage header. Other particulars, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Presumably, all these fraudulent sites are managed by a single team of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Zonebex Scam Works?

Zonebex is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating actively in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use several 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 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 establish and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They primarily aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the marketing campaign commences. Using bots and sponsored promotions (when achievable), fraud actors increase the presence of their scam activities to potential victims. And as I said, fraudsters do not disdain using deepfake for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, swindlers claim the bonus for every user who joins the service immediately.

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

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

Upon clicking the ads, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Zonebex”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Zonebex, “Start earning with Zonebex – 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 since nothing suspicious happens at this point, unaware users happily proceed – especially since the gift appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you sign up using your personal data, rascals 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 – email, username, cryptocurrency wallet address – are valuable for user identification. Exclusively 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, the claimed bonus is not available to use right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, the user should top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what initiates the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Obviously, any cryptocurrency purchases require having funds on your account. In the case of Zonebex, users are also coerced to top up to use the bonuses. And this is what creates most of the money 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 participating on this site hoping to use all the deposited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the problems. When comparing 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 retrieve the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters are naught on intentions to return your money. But to make the fraud look more legitimate, they’ve made up a whole pack of reasons to decline the wireout request. Most of them repeat what KYC regulations say, but in this case they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

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

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

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Zonebex 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 course of the fraud, its actors may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may propose you to set up “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to simplify access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier figured out, these rascals have no intention of returning your money. So, what do these emails and browser plugins represent? Correct – that is another side of the fraudulent scheme designed to entice you into willingly running malicious applications onto your system.

Both plugins and files included to emails can act as a carrier for different malware. In this case, I anticipate the presence of spyware and stealers among other forms of malicious programs. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the likelihood is always existent. As previously mentioned, their ethics is of little concern, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to give up and intend to maximize revenues.

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