I was scrolling through Instagram when I came across a post from what appeared to be the official account of a well-known crypto influencer. The post announced a giveaway to celebrate reaching one million followers. The rules were simple: send any amount of Bitcoin to a listed wallet address, and they would double it as a thank-you to their followers.

The post had thousands of likes and comments, with people claiming they had already received their doubled funds. Excited by the opportunity, I sent 0.1 BTC (about $3,000 at the time) to the wallet address, expecting to see 0.2 BTC in return within minutes.

Hours later, nothing happened. I checked the post again, but it had been deleted. Confused, I visited the influencer’s verified account, only to find no mention of any giveaway. I realized I had been scammed by an impersonator who had created a nearly identical account, complete with fake engagement to make it look credible.

Although I reported the account to Instagram, I knew my funds were gone. This experience taught me to always verify giveaways through official channels and never send funds to unsolicited wallet addresses. Legitimate giveaways don’t require you to send crypto first. If something seems too good to be true, it almost always is.