Crypto / Investment Scam

A new online friend showed me a crypto app with big returns, is it real?

By Grandma Pearl · Updated June 2026 · 4-minute read

No, sugar, that's almost certainly a scam, and a cruel one. The app is fake, the profits on screen are make-believe, and the day you try to take money out, there'll be a "fee", and then they vanish. Let me walk you through it so it never gets you.

▶ Pearl's quick take (AI-generated). See all shorts →

How this one works (they call it "pig-butchering")

It's a slow scam, which is what makes it so dangerous. It often starts as a "wrong number" text or a friendly new connection online. No pressure at first, just weeks of pleasant conversation, a budding friendship or romance. They earn your trust on purpose.

Then they mention, casually, how well they've been doing with a special crypto trading app. Would you like to try? They'll even help you. You make a small test deposit, and, look at that!, the numbers on the screen go up. So you put in more. And more. It feels like it's working.

Here's the trap: the day you try to withdraw your money, there's suddenly a "tax" or "fee" you must pay first. You pay it... and then the app, the friend, and every dollar vanish into thin air. The profits were never real. Your money was gone the moment you deposited it.

The signs

Pearl's rule for "sure things"

Nobody with a real sure thing goes looking for it in a stranger's text messages. You invest only through a licensed broker you went and found yourself, never through a new friend, never through an app someone sent you a link to. When in doubt, talk to a real, licensed financial professional before a single dollar moves.

If you've already deposited money

Do not pay the "withdrawal fee", that's just the last bite, honey. Stop all contact, take screenshots, and report it to the FBI (IC3.gov) and the FTC. And watch out for the second wave: "recovery" services that promise to get your crypto back for a fee are usually the same crooks, knocking twice.

🏮 Don't let the next one catch your family

One plain-English scam alert a week, plus the free Family Safe-Word Kit today.

More from the porch: An online sweetheart is asking for money, is it a scam? My bank's "fraud department" called, is it real?

Sources: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting on "pig-butchering"/crypto-investment fraud (IC3.gov); Federal Trade Commission investment-scam guidance (consumer.ftc.gov); CFTC/SEC investor alerts. Grandma Pearl is an AI character (always labeled). Educational content only, not financial advice.