If you have to send a "fee" before you can withdraw, it is a scam

You can see a large balance on the screen, but when you try to withdraw you are told to first send a separate "fee", "tax" or "release charge". This is one of the most common crypto scams, and the rule that exposes it is simple: a platform that really holds your money takes its fee out of that money.

The pattern is always the same

The names change; the story almost never does:

1. Someone gets to know you on Telegram, Instagram or a dating site, or you see an ad promising "guaranteed daily profit".
2. They take you to a website or an app. You deposit a small amount and your balance on the screen climbs fast.
3. Sometimes they even let you make a small withdrawal, to win your trust.
4. When you try to take out something bigger, an obstacle appears: a "withdrawal fee", "tax", an "anti-money-laundering clearance charge", an "account upgrade", a "release code", or "your balance must reach a minimum first".
5. You pay it, and the next obstacle appears. The cycle lasts exactly as long as you keep sending money.

Why it is always a lie

The number on the screen is not money. A balance on a website is just a number in that website's database, and whoever runs it can write any number they like. The only thing that proves money exists is that money arriving in a wallet you control.

A real fee comes out of the amount itself. An exchange or platform that is holding your money does not need you to send new money to collect a fee; it can simply send you, say, $997 instead of $1,000. If they insist the fee is sent separately, it means there is no money with them to take it from.

Websites do not collect your taxes. Tax is between you and the law of your country. No website holds your withdrawal hostage until you pay "tax" into its own wallet, unless it is a scam.

Warning signs

• "Guaranteed", "daily" or "risk-free" profit. No real market guarantees a profit.
• A new acquaintance who brings up investing very quickly.
• Urgency: "only until tonight", "or your account will be frozen".
• Support that only answers on Telegram or WhatsApp and sends a "new" wallet address to pay into.
• A recently registered website with a name that looks like a well-known exchange.

If you have already sent money

• Do not send any more. Every new payment only makes the loss bigger, however often you are told "this is the last step".
• Stay away from "fund recovery". After a scam, someone usually turns up promising to get your money back for a fee. That is the second wave of the same scam.
• Keep the evidence: transaction IDs (TXIDs), the addresses you sent money to, screenshots of the conversations and the website address.

How it works at Money Harbor

• Every fee is taken out of the amount you withdraw, and the exact figure is shown on the withdrawal page before you confirm. The full list is on the fees page.
• We will never ask you to send money anywhere to release a withdrawal.
• The only address you ever send money to is the one on the deposit page of your own account. If someone claiming to be Money Harbor gives you a different address in a chat, an email or a call, that message did not come from us.
• Before you submit anything, the withdrawal page shows separately how much of your balance is actually withdrawable.
• If someone says they have sent you USDT, put the transaction ID into USDT Check before anything else. It is free, and it reads the blockchain itself to tell you whether the USDT is real or flash, and whether it reached your address.

If you are not sure whether a message really came from us, write to info@moneyharbor.net before doing anything.

This is for awareness. It is not legal or financial advice.