This is my first post/email. I’m doing this to raise awareness and for us to be constantly reminded that scams occur everywhere. Everyone can fall victim to it. The best thing anyone can do is to be informed and not to rush into it.

This story started with a girl adding him on Instagram. She seemed friendly, asked for his WhatsApp, and kept sending good morning texts full of positive energy. Eventually she told him she was a fashion designer and made money on the side through an e-commerce gig. She claimed it paid anywhere from $500 to $2000 a day in commissions. She offered to show him how it worked and gave him her login details for a site called mallbn.com.

The process looked simple: deposit USDT, complete 25 “orders” on big platforms like Amazon and Shopee, then cash out with commission. To prove it was real, she even showed him topping up her account, withdrawing money, and sending screenshots of deposits in her bank. He tested her by asking for $100 to start. She gave it to him, and after a few days he tried the system. He deposited a little extra to cover combo orders, finished the tasks, and successfully withdrew the money to Kraken, then to his bank. It worked.

He tried again with another round, got put in a Telegram group, spent more money, and once again the withdrawal landed. By this point, he believed the system was real. Screenshots, hashes, and fake work groups made everything look legitimate. That’s how the trap works—they let you win small, they let you withdraw, they build your confidence.

The scam only came into play when he deposited a larger amount. He started with $1000, had to top up more for “combo orders,” and suddenly found himself with over $4000 locked in the platform. Then came the big twist: to finish the session he had to deposit another $5000. Customer service insisted it was the “last combo” and that he was lucky. The girl repeated the same phrases as support. He realized they were working together. He refused to deposit more and understood he had lost the $4500 he already put in.

This is a classic task scam. The setup is always the same: a stranger builds trust, usually with a romance angle. They introduce you to a fake platform that mimics real trading or e-commerce systems. You make small deposits, see fake profits, and even get to withdraw at first. That’s how they convince you it’s real. Once you start putting in larger sums, the “combo orders” or “bonus tasks” force you to top up more and more until you either run out of money or refuse to keep going. That’s when you lose everything.

How to avoid this: never trust a stranger online who pitches you money-making schemes. Never believe screenshots, bank deposits, or “proof” from hash numbers—those can be staged. Real investments don’t force you to keep topping up just to access your money. If you see requirements like that, it’s a scam. And most importantly, if something pays out too easily and too consistently, it’s because someone is baiting you to put in more.

He lost $4500. A tough lesson, but one everyone should take seriously. If it looks too good to be true, it is.

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