I had always been cautious about investing in cryptocurrency, but when I heard about a “secure crypto hedge fund” called NextGen Capital, I thought I had finally found the perfect opportunity. A friend of mine had already invested in the fund and had doubled his money within six months. He told me that the fund was managed by top-tier traders who specialized in low-risk, high-reward strategies.

After weeks of research and reassurance from my friend, I decided to take the plunge. I started with $5,000, and within a month, I saw consistent profits in my online dashboard. Encouraged by my returns, I gradually increased my investment, eventually depositing a total of $50,000—my entire life savings.

For several months, everything seemed perfect. My account balance kept growing, and I even received monthly payouts that made me feel secure. Then, one day, I tried to withdraw some of my profits, but I received a system error message. I contacted customer support, and they assured me that withdrawals were temporarily paused due to “high market volatility.”

Days turned into weeks, and then one morning, I woke up to find that the NextGen Capital website had disappeared. The social media accounts were gone, and the customer service email bounced back as undeliverable. My friend, who had recommended the fund, was also locked out of his account and had lost everything.

I later discovered that NextGen Capital had been a Ponzi scheme, paying early investors with the money from new victims before eventually vanishing. I had just lost my entire life savings, and there was nothing I could do to recover it.