My wife, Amanda, isn’t someone who’s easily fooled, but the scam she fell into was smart, polished, and very personal. She met someone on Instagram who claimed to be a certified crypto trading coach. He posted charts, results, even live “proof” of account growth. They messaged for weeks, and he offered her one-on-one mentorship for $1,200.

She paid in crypto after speaking to him over video chat—yes, video chat! He had everything ready. After payment, she got access to a private group, a few generic PDFs, and fake signals. The trades he advised didn’t make sense, and when she asked questions, he ghosted her.

What hurt more than the money was how personalized the scam was. He earned her trust. And when we dug deeper, we found the same guy operating under different names with the same face, targeting new people.

We reported him, but nothing came from it. Lesson learned: just because someone looks real or chats with you live doesn’t mean they’re legit.