I have always been careful with my investments, but when I saw an ad for GlobalCryptoHub, a new exchange promising low trading fees and exclusive altcoin listings, I was tempted. The website looked just like any other exchange, with professional design, live price charts, and even a verified social media presence. To make it more enticing, they were offering a 10% bonus for first-time deposits over $5,000.

After doing what I thought was enough research, I registered and transferred $7,500 worth of Bitcoin to my account. The platform seemed to work perfectly. I traded a few small amounts to test it out, and everything went smoothly. Excited by this, I deposited another $10,000, thinking this could be my new go-to exchange.

Then, when I tried to withdraw my profits, I received an error message: “Withdrawal under review due to security verification.” I contacted customer support, and they told me that due to “anti-money laundering regulations,” I had to pay a 5% fee upfront before withdrawing. At first, I resisted, but I had already invested so much that I didn’t want to lose access to my funds. I paid the fee.

After paying, another message popped up—“Due to network congestion, an additional fee of $2,500 is required.” That’s when it finally hit me. I had been scammed. The moment I refused to pay more, my account was locked, and all my funds disappeared. Within days, the website went offline. GlobalCryptoHub was a fake exchange, designed solely to steal deposits and then vanish.