About six months ago, I joined a Telegram group dedicated to Ethereum Layer 2 projects. The group seemed legit—active conversations, developers sharing updates, and lots of discussions about upcoming airdrops. Eventually, one of the admins introduced a “smart bot” that would help users register early for upcoming token launches and drops. It was pinned by the group’s moderators, and several members praised it, claiming they’d already secured spots and even received testnet rewards.

I clicked the bot link, and it immediately launched a chat with a clean interface. It asked me to connect my wallet through WalletConnect, then verify by sending a small ETH deposit to a “network validation address.” It said it was just a formality and the funds would be returned within minutes with confirmation of my airdrop spot.

So I followed the steps. I sent around 0.4 ETH—nearly $700 at the time—and waited. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Still nothing.

I messaged the group for help, but my message never posted. I tried again, only to find I’d been muted. I checked the pinned post—gone. The admin’s profile? Deleted. That’s when it hit me: I’d been tricked.

The bot wasn’t just a scam—it was part of a coordinated Telegram group fraud, and I wasn’t the only victim. I later found Reddit threads exposing the same scam run under different project names. They’d create fake communities, pin fraudulent tools, and vanish after enough people took the bait.

That experience taught me a harsh lesson: never send funds for “verification” and always be skeptical of automated wallet interactions. Even if a group feels real, scammers go to extreme lengths to build trust before striking.