Like many others stepping into the world of crypto, I was excited, curious, and honestly hopeful. The stories of people turning small investments into life-changing money were all over social media. I started researching daily, especially on platforms like Twitter/X, Telegram, YouTube, and others. The more I scrolled, the more I saw promotions of new projects, free signals, and “early insider” opportunities. That’s when I heard about ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) and IDOs (Initial DEX Offerings) where you can invest in coins before they launch, often at the cheapest possible price. One well-known wallet platform (yes, the “best” by reputation) offered access to some of these IDOs/ICOs. With what little knowledge I had, I took a leap of faith. I invested my hard-earned money into multiple new coins—believing that this early access would give me a head start in the game. But the reality hit hard

The Trap: Sell Tax Scams & Sudden Dumps

As launch dates arrived, the nightmare began. I noticed that sell taxes were being set ridiculously high 90% to even 100% in some cases. That means when the token launched and I tried to sell, I either lost almost everything in taxes or couldn’t sell at all. Shortly after launch, the developers dumped their coins, crashed the price, and disappeared. All the money I invested? Gone. And because crypto isn’t fully regulated, there was no one to complain to. No authority. No customer support. And even worse the wallet platform that offered the IDO/ICO access had no vetting system, no accountability, and no refunds. They just acted as a middleman.

What I Learned (And You Should Too)

lost more than just money — I lost trust. But I also gained hard-earned wisdom: ❌ Don't trust hype blindly: Most of the promos on Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube are paid. Always DYOR — Do Your Own Research. 🚩 Avoid high-sell-tax projects: If a project can set 90–100% sell taxes, it’s a rug pull in disguise. ⚠️ Even "top" platforms can list shady projects: Just because a platform is well-known doesn’t mean all offerings are safe. Some of them just take fees and allow anyone to list. 🧠 Learn before you leap: Crypto is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It's a volatile, unregulated space. Never invest without fully understanding what you're doing. 💸 Only invest what you can afford to lose: This is not just a cliché. It’s a shield against emotional and financial damage.

🛡️ Precautions for New Crypto Investors

✅ Research team, audits, tokenomics, and liquidity lock info. ✅ Ask in public forums and check for real community discussions (not just bots). ✅ Beware of promises like “100x soon”, “guaranteed profits”, or “early secret access”. ✅ Check the contract address on explorers like BSCScan or Etherscan. ✅ Use tools like TokenSniffer, DEXTools, or RugDoc to analyze tokens.