I have been added on as a moderator in a subreddit and am just now learning about the automoderator. I'd like to add some rules, but I have noticed that the current automod file for this sub has been written entirely in JSON. So, instead of --- separator lines, there are only curly brackets, square brackets and commas. I believe that JSON is a strict subset of YAML, and so this should be OK, but I wanted to make sure first before making any changes.

So, to summarize my question: Is JSON-only syntax OK for the automoderator?

Also, does the automodifier give me notification if my automod file is syntactically invalid?

I have had a mantra that I frequently post in comments to other posts on r/CryptoScams, namely:

>The name of the alleged scam doesn't matter nearly as much as the characteristics and behavior of the scam.

This is because the same scams often go by many different and ever-changing names, and so to try to flag each one by name is often a fool's errand and a task that does not scale well.

But occasionally there are exceptions, such as now.

Sertexity is a recently created and aggressively touted crypto exchange site (URL https://sertexity.com/) that makes multiple amazing, even unbelievable (truly unbelievable) claims, including:

• That they use AI bots and "proprietary algorithms" that allow individual investors to profit from crypto arbitrage -- to profit by "exploiting the price differences across different crypto exchanges."
• That they have been "approved" by the SEC: "We operate under Rule 506 of Regulation D, which authorizes us to act as a registered cryptocurrency financial services provider and to attract private investments."
• That have had historic returns of 0.4 to 0.6% per cycle.
• That losses, while possible, are "unlikely due to advanced risk management systems."

So, why am I, an r/CryptoScams moderator getting involved?

A post was made about this exchange 10 days ago, SERTEXITY Scam Warnings Are Growing – Here’s Why, that made accusations that suggested that all might not be as rosy as the site's claims made them out to be, that the site may be, in fact, a scam. I also posted a comment to that post, verifying the information as I knew it at the time.

This post and several comments to it have been receiving more moderator attention than I've seen a post receive in a long time, including multiple mass-reportings of the post for being "spam," for being "harassment," for being malicious and false. We have even received mod-mail against it and today, I have received a chat from a concerned Redditor claiming that the post is false and that it should be promptly removed.

In other words, the post and comments have touched a nerve, and if only for this reason alone, it needs to remain up and open for all to see.

Here is the information that I have been able to glean about Sertexity from its site, from mod-tools, and from using scam-detection tools, much of this already mentioned in my comment to a related post in r/ScamCenter here:

• Per WhoIs.com, the site's domain was registered December 3rd, 2025, which is less than 6 months ago. Any exchange that is less than a year old greatly increases the risk of its being a scam.
• Scam-Detector.com gives the site a very low trust score of 20.5 / 100. While this is not proof of the site representing a scam site, it adds more evidence that supports this.
• Again, the site claims to allow investment in crypto arbitrage, something that may allow very large institutional firms to eke out a very small marginal profit if they have extremely fast computers and extremely fast microsecond‑latency connections, something that is far beyond the reach of ordinary investors even with pooled investments, and with "proprietary" algorithms. In fact, my experience in this subreddit has shown that every crypto arbitrage investment "opportunity" that I have seen offered has been an outright scam. This one is not likely to be very different.
• After the post was made in r/CryptoScams, we found it quickly bombed by bot-like comments that all made extremely similar claims with similar wording and from different accounts, all supporting the site, more evidence that it is not on the up-and-up.
• Many comments in Reddit boast of the exchange being "SEC approved," a claim that is not only false but potentially self-incriminating. The business has filed an SEC Reg D Form D notice, but this is merely a brief administrative filing, not a merit review or endorsement of any kind. More importantly, Reg D exemptions, specifically Rule 506, are designed for private placements, meaning they explicitly prohibit general solicitation of the public. If Sertexity is publicly touting investment opportunities on Reddit and via their website, they may be violating the very exemption they are claiming as their legal cover. In other words, the "SEC approval" they are bragging about may actually be evidence of a regulatory violation, not a shield against one.
• The site boasts historical profit claims that they "may fall within the range of approximately 0.4–0.6% per cycle." The time period of a cycle is never fully defined, but it is usually assumed to be several cycles per day. If we conservatively assume just 1 cycle per day, which may actually undercount the implied frequency, this would translate to a compounded rate of 180 to 600% APY, a completely unrealistic range. It also makes truly unbelievable claims that losses, while possible, are "unlikely."
• And again, more recently, the post has been bombed with Reddit reports that claim that it is malicious, that it constitutes harassment, that it constitutes spam, and that it should be taken down. This sort of concerted action is further evidence that the post (and likely this one) has hit a nerve and needs to be kept open.

In sum, I would advise any and all to consider the site to represent a high-risk operation, or more likely an outright scam, one that should be avoided. Understand that if someone invented a true money-printing machine with huge historic profits as they have claimed, they wouldn't be sharing it with the likes of you and me, the common masses. Rather, they would be doing just what you or I would likely be doing: they would be quietly printing money for themselves while striving to stay under the radar.

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Corrections and additions:

• Sertexity Labs Inc. issued a press release on May 19, 2026 via GlobeNewswire announcing it had filed a Form D notice with the SEC for a private securities offering of up to $5 million. The press release clarifies they filed under Rule 506(c), a private offering exemption that permits general solicitation when sales are limited to accredited investors and other regulatory conditions are met.
• Again, there is no evidence that the company has been endorsed by the SEC or by any government agency.
• The filing lists the company as a Florida corporation headquartered in Miami, with one "Evan Hartmore" named as CEO. This "Evan Hartmore" is essentially ungoogleable. There is no LinkedIn profile, no prior business history, no professional footprint whatsoever for this person beyond this single press release.
• He is also not listed in the "Meet Our Team" section of the site's "About US" page.
• The folks that are listed in that section all show AI-generated images, including the group photo.