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You know how when you鈥檙e being scammed you know but you just think it can鈥檛 happen to you? Well it happened to me.馃槄
I find it funny how I managed to let myself get trapped in the Ponzi world although I knew from the start it was a very bad idea.
So about a year and a half ago, I got myself involved more in crypto. I got to learn about blockchains, crypto wallets and crypto platforms. It was then I realized I have been missing a very huge financial market and so decided to get myself more involved.
I was introduced to one of these Ponzi schemes by a friend. Was in the hostel when one of the guys forwarded it to me and spoke about how he earns extra income on his initial $50 investment. I told him to forward the details to me so I have a look at it.
I told myself this was a scam and I wasn鈥檛 going to get myself involved. I was able to stay away for a while but then most of my friends got involved and it became a topic for discussion every time we were together.
Just like me they all knew it was a scam but then they said it was relatively knew and so they鈥檒l leave with their profits before they get scammed. They were able to convince me but because I wasn鈥檛 totally in I said I鈥檒l start with just $50.
Screenshot of CG channel from telegram.
This Ponzi was called CG trading. The whole idea behind this was that you join a telegram channel where an expert called Suresh will give you signals to trade.
There was a trading plan every user was supposed to use based on their capital. We used to trade from level to level 7. So if you鈥檙e successful at level 1 or any other you don鈥檛 proceed further. The most luring thing was that the owners said they鈥檒l be responsible if losses were incurred and will refund monies to those who lost it because of their signals provided they were using the right plan.
Trading plan for CG
Funnily enough, they did refund some users including few of my friends before I joined. I was strictly adhering to the plan and making a few cents after every trade. By the end of the day I used to make about $1.2 on my $50 investment. Everything was working smoothly and I was satisfied.
Screenshot of my first investment on CG trading platform.
But one afternoon I visited of my friends. He was using a $200 trading plan with the same capital I had and was making $16 at the end of each day. At the time we never exceeded level 4 which meant he was still safe.
I got greedy and decided I was going to use the same plan. I completely forgot about my bad luck.馃槀
The first 2 days everything worked out great and I made $32. Tears filled my eyes and I even forgot this was a scam馃槄. During one our trades on the third day a senior from school saw my number in the group and texted me. He welcomed me to the platform and asked if I was following the plan. Cos I knew if I didn鈥檛 answer in the affirmative I鈥檇 get advised, I told him I was 馃槀 and missed out on the lecture. That day was my first day of reckoning.
We exceeded the 4th level that day and entered the 7th level. That was the first time I lose my investment. But I didn鈥檛 stop there. I was determined to make more馃檪.
I deposited again but this time I made it $100. I quickly entered $300 and was using that plan. The greediness got to me and there was no way I was backing down. But of course when you get greedy you start to think you鈥檙e better off trading on your own and that happened.
I started trading on my own and for some time it worked. I was making more money everyday till one evening while at studies I decided to trade again. I went for the one minute trade this time and it was fun. It was quicker as I kept getting the results faster and that was the same way my money flashed before my eyes馃槄.
I didn鈥檛 want the guys knowing that I traded on my own and lost so I kept it quiet. I was broken at first but then I was determined to recover my money. Another rookie mistake.
I reinvested a lot into this CG trading and this time around I was using the right plan. I was not longer trading on my own. I had lost quite a lot and wasn鈥檛 ready to lose more. This didn鈥檛 last.
It was during fasting period and almost time for Eid when we all lost our money. We had just finished praying and it was time to trade. We went through about 2 successful trades and on our third one things got weird.
Everyone got a 0 attached to the amount they entered. I was alone in my room at the time and thought I made a typo. I heard the guys complaining too and then we realized things were wrong.
People in the group started complaining and Suresh sent a message telling us they had a problem with the system and they would try to sort it out but we should continue trading till we recover the amount we lost. We knew things were over at this point馃槀.
We couldn鈥檛 withdraw the remainder of our funds but could transfer funds in. I was fortunate not to make further deposits for a couple of friends make further deposits.
The crazy thing is that when you get yourself involved in the Ponzi schemes it鈥檚 difficult to get out. Soon after CG collapsed, LBP trading was the new hot cake. We promised each other we weren鈥檛 going to get our dodger involved but it was a lie. We wanted our money back.馃槀
Screenshot of LBP channel on telegram.
I deposited into LBP trading to test it out. The interface was so bad that one glance at it and you鈥檇 know it鈥檚 a scam. My plan was to withdraw my money after every trade.
Few days after I joined LBP trading, there was a message on our telegram page instructing us to change our passwords to protect our account. I doubted at first but I later gave in. After I did, another message came instructing us not to listen to that message because it wasn鈥檛 from them but that was too late.
I logged into my account and my investment was gone. There and then, I promised myself to quit Ponzi schemes and save myself from stress. I鈥檝e soon not entertained anyone trying to convince me to join any platform that sounds like Ponzi.
These Ponzis messed up my finances a lot and I鈥檝e been trying to recover since.
This is my journey on how I became a Ponzi rider but was able to quit to save myself.