Read the Signals

A woman stops at a city crosswalk looking at her phone just as the pedestrian signal shows a glowing red raised hand.

Before any financial request arrives, these things will already have happened. Someone you met online has become important to you. They have been consistent, warm, and attentive. They have mentioned investments, or asked to move the conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram.

They have shown you returns on a platform you have never heard of and cannot check. A small withdrawal worked, so you invested more.

Each of those steps is a signal. Any one of them is worth stopping for. This is the A and S in PAUSE. Ask someone you already know before you invest a single dollar. Stop the moment anyone asks you to send money to a platform you cannot verify independently.

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