The values of cryptocurrencies have recently increased dramatically with the price of Bitcoin, for example, reaching $100,000 in early December of 2024. There are many factors that contribute to the rise in the value of cryptocurrencies, including the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump who is strongly in favor of cryptocurrencies. These developments are causing many people to rush into purchasing cryptocurrencies and scammers are ready to meet this new demand with scams.
One scam we are seeing repeatedly is exemplified by Venotux.com which is a scam cryptocurrency trading platform promoted using deepfake videos of celebrities such as Ronaldo, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Drake that appear to endorse Venotux on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. The ads containing the fake endorsements promise investors to receive 0.31 free Bitcoins merely for setting up an account on Venotux. Victims of the scam who set up an account are able to see the free Bitcoin added to their account when they go online to their account. However, if they attempt to withdraw funds from their account, they see a message that informs them that they must make a minimum deposit of 0.005 Bitcoin in order to activate the account’s withdrawal capabilities.
The truth is no free Bitcoin was ever deposited into their account by Venotux. Venotux is a total scam. Once enough people have fallen for the scam and made deposits of Bitcoin in order to be able to withdraw funds, the site closes down and all of the Bitcoin deposited by the victims of the scam is stolen by the scammers. This scam has been repeated using a number of different phony trading sites such as Bitsowex.com, Bitxspark.com, Nevofex.com, Tokenely.com and Xbirex.com.
TIPS
Never invest in anything that you do not understand. No one should invest in cryptocurrencies unless they are knowledgeable about the investment. As for trading sites, you should always investigate any site you are considering before investing. See if the platform is registered with the SEC and licensed. You can also look for reviews of the site on cryptocurrency watchdog sites such as CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko. Also, check with the domain registry site https://www.whois.com/ to see who set up the particular site and how long it has been in existence.
Some red flags that this is a scam are that legitimate trading platforms do not give away Bitcoin for setting up an account with them and no legitimate site requires users to deposit funds before withdrawing funds for their accounts.
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