Please help verify if this a fake crypto exchange website

[Deathstroke100]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not. It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam? I believe it is a scam because it also has 2 domains that take you to the same site. Was his money lost once he transferred it over to that site or is there anything that can be done.

The other site link is mercedobItcoinIkx.com

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

[_act_]

It is a scam.

There is no exchange that goes by this name that is legit. It is a scam.

If you are looking for a centralized exchanges, these are lists of them

https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges

Use the one that has high trust score because some of them can be shady and not worth using.

[BIT-BENDER]

You don't need anyone to tell you it's a scam mate, to be completely safe and not put yourself in any compromising situation know this any exchange or platform requiring you to pay any fee to get your funds has a high chance of being a scam.
Why pay for a fee when your fund is on the platform, that's what transaction fee is for, they deduct the transaction fee from your funds in their possession and you get what's left.

[Cantsay]

I tried opening both of them; the first one gave me “404” error while the other one just kept loading and gave me “timeout” error, so I was unable to check the site out.

But nevertheless, it’s a scam… as long as they are requesting you to put in more funds before you can remove the one that you currently have there, it’s a scammy move. Normally when you have coins in an exchange, if you want to withdraw they’ll take their fee from your current account balance they won’t ask you to deposit a different fee (from even typing it, is sounds stupid. Although some might still fall for it cos of the amount the have in the exchange) and you should comply with it you’ll only add to the amount that they want to scam off you.

A link has been provided that contains lists of exchanges, use one of them. Don’t just go around the internet searching for random exchanges to use you’ll only end up in the hands of scammers and no matter how hard you try you won’t be able to recover your money back from them once the deed is done.

[Stalker22]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not.
~

Well, right off the bat, that domain name oughta raise some eyebrows.  No self-respecting exchange would slap together such a silly, meandering URL and  meanwhile scammers snatch up every cheap domain they can get their hands on if it is even tangentially related to a legit brand - in this case, Mercado Bitcoin. 

And another telltale sign here is an exchange demanding upfront payment for some kind of penalty or fee or whatnot.  They could just deduct charges straight from a user's balance instead of hassling folks for more money.

So, definitely a scam. There is no doubt.

[light_warrior]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not. It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam? I believe it is a scam because it also has 2 domains that take you to the same site. Was his money lost once he transferred it over to that site or is there anything that can be done.

The other site link is mercedobItcoinIkx.com

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

I'm wondering, though, when was the last time your uncle traded cryptocurrency futures there? I doubt he traded there at all, because one address isn't even registered and free to buy, and the other address exists but doesn't work (404). Either you got the addresses wrong or it looks like your uncle was joking

[The Cryptovator]

Any sites that ask you to send some funds in order to unlock your funds on their platform are clearly scam attempts. Simply mark them as scams without further investigation. I never heard of this site, and its name looks suspicious to me. I assume they offer you something for free and then motivate you to make deposits there. It's quite dangerous for newbies who don't know about these types of scams. Just make sure you don't use such shady services. Choose the right platform when it's related to your funds.

[Potato Chips]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not. It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam? I believe it is a scam because it also has 2 domains that take you to the same site. Was his money lost once he transferred it over to that site or is there anything that can be done.

The other site link is mercedobItcoinIkx.com

Asking for any kind of payment before you can withdraw is a typical scam. Does your uncle know this friend personally or they just met online? for scams like this, it typically starts through unsolicited DMs.

I wonder what kind of payment method did you use? Generally, recovery chances are pretty low long as it's crypto. In any case, I'd still file a police report for formalities sake since what happened to you guys was a crime.

[JeromeTash]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not.

It's not

It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met.

Looks like it was an online friend? That friend of your uncle is probably;y the scammer behind that site.

My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam?

No genuine exchange blocks your funds and then asks you to deposit more in order to reactivate the account. Any more money sent to that exchange will be taken as well, and they will tell you to deposit again.

Was his money lost once he transferred it over to that site or is there anything that can be done.

There is not much you can do to recover that money

[tvplus006]

...It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam? ...

Yes, this is a scam. As I understand it, your uncle's friend has stopped being a friend now. Although obviously he was not a friend, as a friend would never recommend such an obvious scam to his friend. You need to learn how to use Google search yourself before investing your money in questionable projects.

[Nwada001]

„Is the exchange a scam?“ Yes, to start with they are not exchange, they are scambrokers, which are just to be used to trade crypto and make profit and not to exchange from one coin to the other. 
 
Is the money deposited theirs lost? Yes, it's long gone. The account or the address given to you to make your deposit is not even your own, as you don't have the key to it, the owners of the scam site have it, and the figures you see on your account are just mere figures, which anybody with admin access can increase your balance to whatever they want. 
 
The best for you to do is advise your uncle to leave the site and advise him to stop communicating with the friend, because they will convince him more to make some more deposit through other means and turn you, who want to help him escape the plan, to be the evil one, as they will make him believe, you don't want him to take profit.
 
Your uncle is too eager to make profit, that is why he falls for that scam. You should educate him and make him have a reverse from such a mindset to save him from similar scams in future.

[sheenshane]

The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam?

From this line, it was obviously a scam exchange.
Because no exchange asks fine or any financial related, it might be asking for another KYC verification but not a fine.

If your uncle's friend comes from social media recommending an exchange to use which is pretty common now.  Both of you shouldn't believe to those people offering services like helping to find exchanges that aren't listed on Coinmarketcap. 

I can't open the domain site you've said but I got whois information.

Code:

Expires On2024-04-04
Registered On2023-04-04
Updated On2023-04-04

[Deathstroke100]

It is a scam.

There is no exchange that goes by this name that is legit. It is a scam.

If you are looking for a centralized exchanges, these are lists of them

https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges

Use the one that has high trust score because some of them can be shady and not worth using.

Yeah, thanks to everyone for the comments, I’ve copied and pasted a link that works for me. I am not sure why those links aren't working, they might have gotten wise and moved off the domain. I will have him file a police report. Is there a federal agency that I need to get involved or is this just a local filing?

https://mercadobitcoinaps.com/app#/

Thanks,

[Charles-Tim]

You don't need anyone to tell you it's a scam mate, to be completely safe and not put yourself in any compromising situation know this any exchange or platform requiring you to pay any fee to get your funds has a high chance of being a scam.

100% of them are even scam. Or if I should make my statement more accurate, 100% of the ones that I know or that people told me are all scam. Although, it is good how the OP asked the question here, he has learned one more thing today.

[tranthidung]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not.

First of all, the domain name looks very odds but I can ignore it and consider it is a legit one.

It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam?

Second, it is surely a scam site.

Let me shill my very old topic.

• Beware of "Pay original fine" - a scam method

I am unsure what your uncle got but it is a similar scam method like I shared in the topic.

You have to tell him to accept the loss and move on. Warn him that never send more money to that site, because sending more means losing more.

[Faisal2202]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not. It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam? I believe it is a scam because it also has 2 domains that take you to the same site. Was his money lost once he transferred it over to that site or is there anything that can be done.

Never heard of this exchange before, anyway this platform is fake because they are asking you to pay some fine, or money in any type, although we do have to pay the withdrawals fee but it is deducted in the native token, or the token you are going to withdraw. So, if your uncle funds are in Matic or BTC form, so when he will be withdrawing, the fee will be deducted from the same type of token.

I will suggest you to avoid that exchange because the domain name also looks fishy, but I know when platforms are suggested by your near ones, then you don't think for another second, especially those who are newbie in crypto space.

Even if your brother is asking you to use a exchange, you have to be skeptical about it, and should check the exchange by yourself.

[Luffygroove]

I'm sorry but I'm afraid it's a scam. A suggestion: check Coinmarketcap for exchange names and their trading volumes. Opt for exchanges with higher volumes, as they are often more dependable. Now, about the legitimacy doubts regarding the exchanges you mentioned, it's uncommon for reputable exchanges to demand a fine to release funds. As far as I know, trustworthy exchanges don't operate this way. You might want to steer clear of such requests. It's like staying cautious in a digital marketplace, choosing exchanges with a solid track record helps ensure a safer and more reliable experience.

[348Judah]

Snipped

First of all am only hearing about the name of this exchange for the very first time, secondly without having to take much of the time we should already know that this is just all about fake exchange, it is not a regular thing that a reputable exchange will demand you to make payment for having any issue with them after your account might have been frozen, which means the reason behind doing that on the user is intentional, don't pay anything to them in other not to accumulate to your experience with them, it still baffles me that some people can be using a low reputable exchange that even many are not aware of.

[Coyster]

I will have him file a police report. Is there a federal agency that I need to get involved or is this just a local filing?

You can file a report with your local authorities, but i don't think they can help you in this case. The website is registered in Hong Kong, China, and i don't know if your local authorities would have any jurisdiction on a site hosted in that part of the world. Though if too many people have been scammed through this website and many of them file complaints, their address can be flagged and if they ever send coins into any centralized exchange, it would be seized.

The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam?

It is a scam, if he pays the fine, his funds would not be released, he would be asked to pay more and more until he gets tired and forfeits it, it is better he cuts his losses now and accepts that he has been scammed.

[2girls]

Hello, I am trying to figure out if this website mercadobitcoinaps.com is real or not. It was recommended by a friend of my uncle whom neither of us have met. My uncle has been using this site for crypto futures and recently had his account frozen. The site is requesting that he pay a fine in order to release his funds. Is this a scam? I believe it is a scam because it also has 2 domains that take you to the same site. Was his money lost once he transferred it over to that site or is there anything that can be done.

The other site link is mercedobItcoinIkx.com

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

It is not the right website for you, as it is scam I have checked it , you can track the list of the centralized exchanges or decentralized exchanges on different website for example you can go for coingecko and coinmarketcap.

Also you can track their data on these website there are many websites through which you can find the exchanges data.

I had checked for this website but didn't found any possible data about it, so thinking that it is scam.