u/Troopshipsonfire

So I met someone, not a romantic thing, just looking to learn about a religion I am considering joining. So I met someone who is a teacher in this religion. Every chat is about faith, God, and spiritual journeys, and then...LET'S GO TO WHATSAPP.

Okay fine, it's hard to chat on social media; red flags appear, but I think maybe it's innocent. Then this person tells me there is a community I can connect with. Silly me, I think this is about religion, but this community...is Crypto. I push back, stating that I don't really believe in Crypto as an investment. But I figure, if I own the Crypto, then it's safe-ish. So I buy some on a financial app, Robinhood.

So I tell him I bought the coin they wanted, and I have it in my account. He asks for screenshots, another red flag, but I leave off account info and show him I have the Crypto. Then he asks me to move it to the site above.

And the site raised college-football-sized red flags. You can only deposit two types of funds: Crypto and Crypto, specifically XRP and Bitcoin. XRP was the coin I was asked to purchase and deposit. There is no Know Your Customer (KYC) you have to complete for any financial institution, and the site isn't built out all the way. They have successful traders you can copy, supposedly. It only lists two people, and the second one is clearly leftover from whoever built this site, as it's just Latin gibberish. (Or the guy is actually a Roman Emperor, which could happen.)

So I think my teacher just sees me as a mark. Other red flags: he talked about how the investment is long-term and not just taking money out, which made me realize I was being played.

TL/DR I attempted to learn about a religion, met a scammer, didn't fall for it, but I came very close.