BTCz Scam Review & Fraud Alert!

Cloud MiningWelcome to our BTCz Review, where we investigate the website currently found at 722l.com.

A few days ago, on January 28, 2023, the following complaint was posted on the BBB (Better Business Bureau) by an Arizona, USA person who claimed being scammed for $16,912 by a cryptocurrency investment scam:

The scammer contacted me through a Telegram chat, offering to invest in cryptocurrency and promising to guide me through every step. However, when I tried to withdraw my investment from the website, customer service informed me that I owed 33,000 dollars in taxes and I had to pay them in a short period of time.

So far, I have lost 16,912 USD but I am concerned about identity theft, as the scammer has access to my personal information.

Reported Scammer Information includes:

• Location – New York, NY
• Telephone – (727) 238-7295 (area code 727 covers Pinellas County, Florida)
• Website – m.722l.com/home

So is BTCz legit, or is it a SCAM?

722l Review

The domain 722l.com was registered through GoDaddy.com on November 21, 2018, for five years, though it was recently updated (in 2022). A privacy service provided by Domains By Proxy, LLC hides information about the registrant. Cloudflare protects it.

Popularity-wise, 722l.com is ranked #4,760,138 globally and #1,308,107 in the United States, which indicates it is receiving some traffic, but in January 2023, it received less than 5,000 visitors, according to SimilarWeb.

Even though the domain was registered more than four years ago, their Semrush Authority Score is 0%, with only five backlinks, none from legitimate websites.

One website used to redirect to 722l.com – hubc.org – but it is currently offline.

Is 722l Legit?

We open the website but quickly discover that on the desktop, the website is not viewable unless you’re signed up; it automatically redirects to a sign-up page.

While the logo reads “BTCz,” the homepage title is “Welcome to BTCEXO, the world’s leading contract trading platform. 100% of the handling fee is refunded in real time. Register & open a position in just 10 seconds.”

Menu items include Market, Exchange, Contract, Period CFD, and Investment.

They provide links to “quickly buy coins” with cash.app, Coinbase, and Crypto.com.

The website claims to provide “24 hours professional customer service” and a mobile app.

Other information they provide includes:

• “Global project expansion and operation management system, with local service trading centers in many countries”
• “Bank-level wallet system, live financial risk control, multi-dimensional verify, 10year financial security team, multiple guarantees of fund security.”
• “Attentively sanding details, make the UI and interaction level by level more comfortable, and then the transaction can become a visual enjotment” [sic]
• “Support Android, IOS and Pc website three device operation to control market information in live time, global market and transaction anytime and anywhere.”

We found the first point on another website, which looks like a 722l.com clone – bitfirer.com.

On mobile, on the other hand, the BTCz website is viewable. There is no contact information besides a contact form.

There is also a Help Center, which for example, contains a page that says:

Dear Customer

Due to the maintenance and upgrade of the platform, the latest domain name has been replaced
The old domain name will be replaced and changed to:
New Domain 1: www.youdivi.com
New Domain 2： www.722l.com
New Domain 3：www.Hubc.org

[…]

All the staff of BTCexo wish you a happy life

Strangely, they refer to themselves as BTCexo here rather than as BTCz.

Also, they mention the domain – Hubc.org – which we saw earlier and used to redirect to 722l.com.

Cloud Mining

According to another article, BTCz has also launched a “Lock-up Mining” cloud mining machine. The subscription price is 5,000 to 500,000 USDT, and the mining duration is 30 days. The cloud mining machine allegedly generates USDT daily, which is issued to the account daily.

The cloud mining machine has six categories, including lock-up mining (1A), lock-up mining (2A), lock-up mining (3A), lock-up mining (4A), lock-up mining (top-level), and lock-up mining (luxury). After subscribing, the platform deducts the corresponding amount of USDT from the user’s account and deploys the machine, with revenue generated starting on the third day.

Where are they located?

Their Legal Statement document states, “The purpose of this website is to provide a professional international trading platform and financial products for the global digital asset enthusiasts and investors as far as possible without violating the relevant laws and regulations of Singapore.”

Could they be located in Singapore?

Overall, this brief 722l scam review suggests that even if they are not full-fledged scam, they should probably not be trusted since they do not disclose any information about the company or the people behind it. The website contains many errors and problems you would not expect to see on a legitimate website.

We turn now to BTCexo and try to look for BTCexo reviews or any information about it.

Is BTCexo legit?

A quick Google search reveals that btcexo.com is a website that is no longer online.

It was also registered through GoDaddy.

We found some BTCexo scam reviews. For example, on TrustPilot, one person writes: “It’s a fraud, and they steal crypto and don’t payout.”

BTCz (722l.com) Reviews

Recently, on May 29, 2023, we received the following complaint from one of our visitors:

I was contacted in person by someone identifying themselves as Ester, who claimed to work as a manager at a Korean restaurant, YUBU, in NYC. This was in early May 2022, through WhatsApp, using the phone number 1-330-271-0465.

Ester mentioned she was trading on www.7221.com and also referred to www.youdivi.com, citing a cousin in Korea as her source of knowledge. I had no prior familiarity with these areas, but Ester explained the concept of CFD trading.

About one to two weeks later, I transferred some funds via an account I had opened with ShakePay and deposited them into the trading platform. I had also explored other services such as BitBuy, Binance, etc. However, the mobile version of the site never activated properly on my iPhone, only on my PC.

With Ester’s assistance, I registered on www.722l.com in early June 2022. She also helped me with BTCz conversions to ETH and BTC, which were then transferred to the account. Some trading occurred as well, always with Ester’s guidance. She was purportedly trading simultaneously.

Throughout this process, I maintained a log of screenshots of our messages. Our interactions usually took place late in the evening and were not a priority for me. Thankfully, I did not invest significant funds.

In mid-June 2022, Ester suggested we move our communications to Telegram. Essentially, she encouraged me to purchase BTC, ETH, and others for transfer to the platform and subsequent trading, which generally seemed successful.

Ester provided me with the link https://m.hubc.org/me for the mobile version of the site, but it never worked on my iPhone. She mentioned Lock-up mining and suggested I invest additional funds. She also hinted at her business interests involving connections to Korea. Money, primarily in ETH and some in BTC, was transferred to the platform, and trading took place in July and August.

In early August, a Lock-up mining contract was completed. A couple of days later, Ester brought up a leverage contract. I was unfamiliar with this term, and she suggested I join one for 50,000, given the substantial profits displayed on the trading platform. So, I agreed to a 50,000 contract. Other trades also took place throughout August 2022.

Around August 17, 2022, Ester indicated that 50,000 needed to be deposited by September 5 to fulfill the leverage contract. I contacted website support, which confirmed the payment had to be made. The contracts and assets (USD) on the platform were frozen, with a daily penalty on the leverage contract of 200 per day. Trading continued on the platform, but I was hesitant to invest more.

Around this time, Ester mentioned that her restaurant intended to pay their staff in cryptocurrency. My research indicated that BTC and ETH were highly volatile, causing me concern about further investment. The platform showed over 268,059 in assets, but the support service did not seem helpful. I was also worried about how to withdraw funds from the platform.

On September 22, 2022, Ester said she had raised 12,000 towards the payment of the leverage contract. By September 28, 2022, my messages to “Support” had gone unanswered, and I relayed this to Ester. The lack of responses did not inspire confidence. I suggested that Ester could pay the remaining balance from her account, and I would reward her handsomely from my funds. However, she showed no interest, which I found troubling, considering she had essentially guided the entire process.

Throughout September and October, I contemplated transferring more cryptocurrency but only made small transfers. By the end of October 2022, the value of many cryptocurrencies had plummeted. Moreover, I had a family death to attend to, which occupied my attention through November. Soon after, news about FTX came out.

I sent a message to Ester on January 3, 2023, to which she replied, “What’s the use of discussing these? Have you successfully withdrawn funds to pay the leverage contracts?” Since then, I have not had any further contact, nor have I received any responses. Meanwhile, the BTCz website has become inaccessible.

In total, I invested just under $20,000 CDN into the BTCz platform.

In short, the complainer was introduced to a cryptocurrency trader named Ester. Under Ester’s guidance, the narrator invested in various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, on specific trading platforms.

However, a 50,000 leverage contract suggested by Ester led to the freezing of assets and daily penalties on the platform. Communication attempts with Ester and the platform’s support were unsuccessful. By January 2023, Ester ceased communication, the trading platform became inaccessible, and the narrator was left with an investment of just under $20,000 CDN in limbo.

Bottom Line

During this BTCz review, we have discovered two active websites that we believe are scams:

• 722l.com
• bitfirer.com

We also found some websites that were probably scams but are currently defunct.

Both 722l.com and bitfirer.com contain a host of red flags that prevents us from putting our trust in them. Bitfirer deserves a review, but for now, let us conclude that Bitfirer and 722l are likely SCAMS and should be avoided!

If you have fallen victim to online scams, please comment below. If you have suffered a substantial financial loss, do not despair. We are here to assist you in recovering your funds!