With the increasing popularity and adoption of cryptocurrencies, the industry has unfortunately become a breeding ground for scammers targeting newcomers. In the first half of 2023, losses from hacks amounted to more than $479million.
Source: PeckShieldAlert
Whilst this staggering figure is primarily attributed to phishing links, codebase vulnerability exploits, and rug pulls, it appears that scammers are constantly evolving and employing new tactics in their malicious endeavours.
Concerns have been raised by numerous users regarding the legitimacy of the crypto exchange Koterex[dot]com, as suspicious activities and questionable practices have surfaced, indicating a potential scam.
The exchange offers users a tempting $10,000 gift upon signing up with a specific code. However, this seemingly generous gesture is merely a ploy to entice individuals into making non-withdrawable deposits in order to gain access to the promised funds.
A Reddit user reported that he was asked to deposit $300 to verify his account and access the $10k.
Another user expressed his initial skepticism, stating: “I thought it was a scam.” He recounted coming across a TikTok video that mentioned a Bitcoin airdrop on Koterex. The doctored video allegedly featured a fake Elon Musk promotion. Curiously, the user decided to give it a try and received 0.4 Bitcoins in his wallet, which was valued at $12,112.
However, his attempts to withdraw the funds were met with an obstacle. Koterex required him to deposit 0.01 Bitcoin and wait 24 hours before being able to withdraw the entire amount, including the initial 0.01 Bitcoin deposit – a classical trick usually employed by scammers.
Upon conducting a quick rating check on WebParanoid, a website legitimacy checker, Koterex’s rating reveals additional concerns and strongly suggests that it is indeed a scam. WebParanoid finds nothing likeable about Koterex. They expressed unease about the design elements, indicating that they resemble those of a previously identified suspicious website. They labelled Koterex as an investment site, which is yet another popular scam scheme in the cryptocurrency space.
To add to their apprehension, there are no links to Koterex’s social media platforms, not to mention that the website was only about 10 days old at the time of detection.
Numerous users have taken to Twitter to expose the scam and caution fellow members of the crypto community to prevent them from becoming victims.
Many claim to have reported the website but at the time of writing, Koterex’s website is yet to be brought down.
