Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a cautionary tale about a recent experience I had, which I believe was an elaborate investment scam. About two months ago, I received a message on WhatsApp from a girl claiming to be from Malaysia, asking if I was a tour guide in Poland. Despite informing her that I wasn’t, she continued the conversation and eventually suggested we chat on her private Hong Kong number, switching from her initial business number.

As we texted, she revealed that she had become wealthy through investing in smart contracts and offered to guide me on how to start. Intrigued, I downloaded Trust Wallet from Google Play, transferred 50 USDT from my Binance account, and followed her instructions to use a website she provided. This site appeared to be a mining pool, and to my surprise, I made a small profit in a day, so I decided to invest more, eventually transferring a total of 3000 USDT.

At one point, I accidentally clicked an airdrop reward button in the app, which resulted in my funds disappearing from Trust Wallet and being transferred to the mining pool. Despite reinstalling the app and not having a backup of my original wallet, I continued to invest, this time with more caution and a backup. Consulting with the chat on the mining pool, they advised me to transfer an additional 3200 USDT to verify and restore my account.

My investment grew, and I was lured into a scheme where I needed to have a minimum amount to claim a large ETH reward. Desperate to not lose my investment, I borrowed money from friends and family, but each time I tried to withdraw my funds, I was met with another obstacle requiring more investment.

Finally, it dawned on me that this was a scam. The realization hit hard when, after transferring even more funds, I was told due to “blockchain fluctuations,” I still hadn’t met the necessary criteria and needed to invest yet again.

I’m sharing this story as a warning. Please be very cautious with investment opportunities presented through social media or messaging apps, especially when they involve transferring funds to unknown parties. What seemed like a golden opportunity turned out to be an elaborate scam, and I hope my experience can prevent others from falling into a similar trap.