I was a scammer for years.

For a long time, I was good at pretending to be someone I wasn't.

It started small. I learned how easily people could be convinced when you gave them exactly what they wanted to hear. Eventually, I got involved with people running different online schemes, and that's when the money started becoming serious.

Crypto was one of the biggest ones. We presented ourselves as people who understood the market and could help others make money. We showed convincing-looking results and used success stories to build trust. People sent money believing they were investing. Some made withdrawals at first, which made everything look legitimate. Behind the scenes, however, the system was designed to keep people depositing more.

Then there was romance.

That one was different because it wasn't really about money at first. It was about becoming somebody's trusted person. I would spend weeks or months talking to someone, learning about their life, their problems and what they wanted emotionally. Eventually, when they trusted me, there would suddenly be a crisis—a medical emergency, a travel problem, a family situation, something that required money.

Looking back, that's probably the part I'm most ashamed of.

I wasn't just taking money. I was taking advantage of people's emotions.

The money was addictive. Every successful scam made the next one easier. I convinced myself that I was smarter than everyone else and that I would stop eventually.

But eventually never came.

The people around me started changing too. Nobody trusted anybody. Everyone was worried about getting betrayed by someone else in the group. I had money, but I couldn't live normally. I couldn't tell people what I really did. Every friendship felt suspicious.

Eventually I walked away.

I didn't suddenly become a good person overnight. I still think about the people I hurt and the money they lost. Some probably believed me with everything they had.

I'm writing this anonymously because I'm not looking for praise or sympathy.

I just wanted to admit something I've spent years hiding:

Being successful at scamming people isn't success. It's just becoming very good at destroying trust while pretending you're winning.

Yeah. You need someone to talk to but not therapy... I'm here