Scam Type
CryptoCurrency Scam
Business Name Used
Paxfur (not Paxful) crypto
Date Reported
April 30, 2024
Postal Code
84104
Total Dollars Lost
$ 165
Scam Description
A friend told me about this company that he saw on YouTube, the draw of the offer is you can sign up for a free crypto account and if you use the promo code “new” you’ll receive 0.13 (approx $8000) in bitcoin in your account wallet. You then have to pass KYC
Step 1. Successful registration
Step 2. Requires you to upload a form of identification as well as a selfie.
Step 3. Upload a document showing proof of address such as a bank statement or utility bill and have a total wallet balance of $10,000.00
Once you’ve completed these steps you’re supposed to be able to withdraw or transfer funds from your account but as soon as you try you receive an error message stating:
Suspicious activity has been detected in your account by our automated anti-fraud system. To proceed with the withdrawal operation, you must complete the identification process for your account in accordance with our service terms and AML/KYC policy.
To complete this process, you must make a test payment in any currency from the provided list. Once verified, the funds will be credited to your account balance and made available for withdrawal. The test payment amount is 0.0025 (approx $159) you’re advised that your deposit is safe and can be withdrawn at anytime. After you make the payment your account is flagged as high risk and you will need to deposit an additional 0.006 bitcoin (approx $381) to clear the flag, at that point you’ll be able to withdraw or transfer your funds. When you contact customer service requesting that they return the initial deposit they tell you that your deposit has become part of your wallet balance and cannot be separated until you deposit the funds to remove the high risk flag. From this point on they’ll continuously hound you to make the 0.006 bitcoin deposit.
This site is very well put together, with almost all the right language (upon close inspection you’ll find typos and accidental omissions). When you Google the site for reviews on its legitimacy google search includes the information for another company that is spelled very similarly PAXFUL.COM which is a legitimate crypto currency exchange and overall the site gets favorable reviews. There are some warnings to be wary of P2P transactions, there have been several reports of people being scammed. Read through the reviews carefully and make sure you’re looking at the right company PAXFUR.COM (scam) not PAXFUL.COM (legitimate) I didn’t notice the spelling difference and it cost me.
