Pbexlas is a scam crypto trading and liquidity mining platform which performs no activity other than to act as front for scammers to steal your crypto.
Victims are approached online in a variety of ways, including social media platforms such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Telegram.
One of the scammers, who poses as someone who the victim may be romantically interested in, strikes up a conversation and gradually builds trust.
They then turn the conversation to investing and reveal that they know of a great opportunity that promises large returns.
In the case of Pbexlas, victims have been told that they’re involved in short selling with guaranteed profits, and that they need to convert cash to crypto via a reputable exchange in order to fund their account.
There have been reports of victims being able to extract some funds from their account (although not profits), minus a large fee, but in most cases everything that’s ‘invested’ is lost.
How spot that Pbexlas is a scam site
Many scam crypto sites follow a similar design and content pattern so they can sometimes be easy to spot. This is the case with Pbexlas.
Red flags include:
- The domain name is very new – a sign that it could be a scam platform, especially as the registrant’s details have been redacted.
- Being asked to convert cash to crypto in order to invest is sure sign of a scam.
- There are no reviews of this platform online – a legitimate site would be talked about and reviewed on various platforms, such as Trustpilot, and social media platforms.
- The platform offers stablecoin mining, which doesn’t exist.
- Pbex is actually the name of a Texas-based company conducting oil and gas related activities. The platform you have been using appears to have stolen this name for the site, while slightly altering it for the actual domain name. Scammers often appropriate the names of well-known companies and add a slight variation in an attempt to trick unsuspecting investors.
- There is none of the expected corporate information on the website, such as details about the management team, regulatory information, company registration information or support details.
- The exaggerated claim of being ‘The Most Secure Cryptocurrency Trading Platform’, as illustrated below, is a telltale sign that this is a scam site, especially given the newness of the domain.
- Homepage icons claiming to offer crypto services do not in fact link anywhere.
- There are no social media channels associated with the platform, or official apps. Legitimate crypto trading companies always have these.
- Some links simply redirect to a sign-up page rather than leading to the content they claim to.
- The news section is out of date and has been scraped from old content somewhere.
- The entire look and feel of the site is amateurish, including poor layout, content that doesn’t make sense and is grammatically incorrect in places, and limited, low quality, scraped images. Put together, these things definitely indicate that this isn’t a genuine platform.
- The site’s Domain Authority (DA) is 1.
As I’ve already mentioned, some victims have been lucky enough to withdraw their funds (minus a substantial fee and any ‘profits’) but most will be blocked from doing so.
Recovering any crypto sent to this platform is incredibly difficult, but you should always report a scam to the police in your country.
However, there are private companies that might be able to help which I’ve written about here.
Have you had any experience with this platform? Kindly share your thoughts in the comment section to help others stay informed and safe.