The XPRO / XERA.pro / Safir / Zeniq system: delaying, fobbing off, obscuring!
The example of XPRO/XERA/ZENIQ/Safir is an impressive illustration of how allegedly fraudulent crypto projects lure investors with exaggerated promises, then fob them off for months, if not years, with supposed updates, upgrades and relaunches – while continuing to take money out of the pockets of those who have already been defrauded.
A brief review of a long story: from Demontis to JUWELIS to Hub01
In 2020, IT tinkerer Peter Skerl and his partner Erwin Dokter had found a strong investor for their supposedly groundbreaking invention in the Juwelis Group: A tablet-like device, the so-called ‘hardware wallet’ or ‘hub’, was announced as a game-changer in the crypto business.
This innovative crypto gadget was supposed to combine numerous functions – from minting and securely storing cryptocurrencies to the decentralized ‘peer-to-peer’ exchange of coins (we reported on this in detail here). Skerl had already had a precursor called Demontis up his sleeve since 2018.
The new prodigy was to be called ‘JUWELIS Hub 01’ and was already in high demand in advance sales. The problem: alleged production and delivery difficulties, which is why only a very small number of hubs were delivered in this phase and buyers were fobbed off with sometimes imaginative excuses.
Because of this and the non-transparent behavior of Skerl and Dokter, a rift arose with the JUWELIS investors (which, by the way, is still smoldering in an open legal dispute).
The delivery bottlenecks and weaknesses of the alleged all-rounder
In the summer of 2020, Erwin Dokter sold JUWELIS GmbH to a certain G. Winter, who we have already introduced as the founder of VOO Aviation Service in one of our articles. Winter, in turn, renamed the company ‘Zentatec GmbH’.
Meanwhile, Skerl and Dokter had already fallen out with former co-founders and, at the same time, had already hired a few experienced MLM professionals to promote ‘Hub 01’, which is now operating under the name Zeniq/Safir. The promises were very tempting: the hub could generate tokens and coins, and even its own IBAN – hub buyers would have to do virtually nothing, just sit back and get rich.
Supposedly, to maximize profits, you wouldn’t even have to recruit new customers (obviously different from before) – but if you did, your profits would multiply even faster… in other words, typical scam promises, as seen in other pyramid schemes.
Although the number of Zeniq and hub buyers grew steadily, only a few devices found their way to their new owners in 2021 and 2022. Even after receipt, customers complained about non-functioning hubs, a lack of support, and delayed or rejected payment requests. In addition, the first international warnings from authorities were issued, and by the end of 2023, the supposedly groundbreaking ZENIQ technology had fallen silent.
Like a phoenix from the ashes: Skerl/Vaugee and Zentatec/Winter
At the beginning of this year, the former founders of the supposedly revolutionary hub joined forces with other well-known crypto scammers to form XERA.pro and now XPRO (we reported here).
With a constant stream of new reward systems, ostentatious events, incentives and announcements, they have been and still are attracting further investors.
As if recruiting new victims wasn’t audacious enough, they are now apparently trying to lure victims from the past back into the same trap.
In a YouTube video from autumn 2024, we learn from an ‘independent’ promoter named Toni Ehmann ‘that the Zeniq blockchain, the Zeniq Smartchain, continues to run independently with the mastermind Peter Skerl from Graz.’ It is unclear why Skerl is mentioned by name, because according to the video message, ‘Zentatec GmbH’ is now the legitimate company that has taken over the delivery process. The already paid and long-promised hub can now be easily ordered here:
Hub owners: Thousands of euros invested and still left empty-handed
Unfortunately, even those who had received such a hub with a shorter delivery delay still end up empty-handed: We have a report from a victim who has owned such a Hub01 since April 2021. Recruited by a top promoter, he invested a five-figure euro amount in Zeniq/Safir and paid almost 2,000 euros for the hub on top of that, then also booked several small amounts.
Now, after the countless rebrands and migrations of the past three years, his balance in the backend is just 40 euros.
The further options for action and transfer in the Safir backend are opaque, and you are redirected from one application to the next in an apparent endless loop. It is also questionable whether Hub 01 can actually be linked to the Nomo app released after Xera.Pro. In any case, a large number of user queries on these topics and documented defects of the hub and the app can be found in the various social media and messenger channels.
However, the group administrators either fob users off with a ‘temporary unavailability’ or – in the case of all too clear criticism of the defects – verbally attack them and relatively quickly remove them from the group or block them.
Watch out: How our brain plays into the hands of investment fraudsters
While our informant, thanks to professional advice, no longer wants to invest in this pyramid scheme, many who have already been harmed are unfortunately not immune to falling into the XPRO/Xera.pro/Zeniq/Safir trap again.
This could be due to a cognitive distortion that our brain unfortunately sometimes succumbs to in such cases: The so-called ‘sunk cost fallacy’ describes the tendency to hold on to a project in which considerable resources such as time, money or energy have already been invested. Even if it becomes apparent that future investments will not justify the desired results, we sometimes fall into this trap – so stay alert and get advice. If you have also been harmed, please contact us! We are here to help.
Sources: XPro call, submissions
And as always, those affected are welcome to comment on this, or if someone has more or different information, they are welcome to share it with us. We are not interested in making false claims and our primary goal remains the provision of complete documentation.
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