**Beware! Over 400 cases of this type of fake exchange scam have been reported, and your funds may be "suffering from slow death"**

Recently, a netizen revealed that their family member was deeply involved in a carefully designed virtual currency trading scam trap. The entire process is highly deceptive: the fake exchange website looks and functions almost identically to a legitimate platform, offering complete trading experiences such as cryptocurrency market display and deposit/withdrawal functions. More cunningly, scammers will initially allow you to successfully withdraw small amounts multiple times, creating a false impression of "platform credibility."

Once you relax your guard and invest more capital, the system suddenly pops up a message saying "Tax must be paid to continue withdrawing," threatening that accounts will be frozen if taxes are not paid promptly. This is the scammers' deadly moment—once you pay the tax, they will continue to invent various reasons to charge you, until you give up completely.

According to an investigation by The Paper, there are currently over **400** similar fake trading platforms active on the internet. One such fake webpage called "Fake Exchange" is still operational, with a page design that completely replicates a real trading platform, including real-time currency quotes and deposit/withdrawal functions. Although some fake websites have been identified and shut down, new variants continue to emerge.

**Some people have reported to the police, but recovering funds is extremely difficult.** These cross-border scams often involve multiple virtual wallets and coin-mixing operations, making the funds chain complex and difficult for law enforcement to trace.

**How to protect yourself?** Remember three points: First, legitimate exchanges have official certification and risk warnings; second, any reason claiming that taxes must be paid to withdraw is a scam; third, if you encounter abnormal prompts, stop operations immediately and do not invest further. Every step you take may be recorded, and prevention is always more practical than recovery.