I’ve always been cautious with money, but I let my guard down when I came across an investment website called DailyYieldX. The concept was simple—invest crypto and earn 1.5% daily returns through a so-called automated DeFi strategy. The website looked incredibly polished, had a live dashboard, a FAQ section, and even a Telegram group filled with enthusiastic “investors.”

I started small, putting in $300. My account balance updated every 24 hours like clockwork. Encouraged, I increased my investment over the next month to around $4,000. That’s when I made the mistake of referring my cousin and two friends—they trusted me and joined with even more money than I did.

Suddenly, the site announced “system maintenance” and withdrawals were paused. A week later, the site went completely offline, and all communication stopped. The Telegram group vanished. Just like that, everything disappeared—including the money I’d invested and the trust my friends had in me.

I filed a complaint with my local cybercrime unit and reported the wallet address, but I knew the money was gone. It wasn’t just a financial loss—it was emotional too. I blamed myself for not seeing the signs.