Readers describe a rotating crew — Shadebound one week, Scorpion or Cyclone the next, with soft first names and a shared Telegram group of “students”. The opening ask is modest: send a few hundred dollars “into work”. Daily profit screenshots arrive. Stolen-looking course PDFs build trust. Parallel emails pretend to be from a big exchange such as OKX. The relationship is patient. Months, not minutes.
When you want money out, the story flips: tax, insurance, liquidity, a new wallet approval, a Phantom-related connect flow, or another top-up “so the bot can finish”. That is the harvest. The group chat was never a school; it was a waiting room while the operators decided how much you would keep sending. Sometimes a small partial payout is allowed so you deposit more. That is bait, not proof.
Hard stops: anyone who needs your funds before teaching; any exchange email that did not come from an address you typed yourself on the official site; any wallet connect or seed share “for the mentor”; any “regulator review” site that steers you toward a shortlist of “verified traders”. Open your own exchange account from the official domain, keep keys offline, and leave groups that reinvent their brand every fortnight.
Start at Get help for reporting routes. If anyone later sells a guaranteed clawback, read Fake recovery first.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.