Someone who said they work with Robinhood offered to manage my investments if I move my money to another platform. Is this a scam?
Almost certainly yes. Robinhood is a legitimate brokerage, but people impersonate it to build trust before steering you onto a different site or wallet they control. Once your money leaves the real app, you are dealing with a stranger, not the company.
Last reviewed: 19 July 2026
Explanation
This one usually begins socially rather than with a warning. Someone messages you on a dating app, a group chat, or a social platform, mentions trading, and drops the name of a well known brokerage to sound credible. Over days or weeks they show screenshots of gains, offer to teach you, and eventually say the real returns are on another platform, a private group, or a wallet they help you set up. That second site often looks polished and shows your balance rising, which is exactly why it works. The trouble appears when you try to withdraw and are told to pay a tax, a fee, or a minimum first. It is convincing because the relationship came first and the pressure came later, and because a familiar company name did the early work of making it feel safe. The check that settles it: nobody genuinely connected to a regulated brokerage will ever move you off that brokerage to trade privately. Any request to transfer out is the answer.
Common red flags
- A new online contact brings up trading and name-drops a well known brokerage
- Screenshots of profits, or a mentor group promising steady returns
- Being asked to move funds to a different site, a private wallet, or a person's account
- Withdrawals blocked until you pay a tax, fee, or top-up first
- Urgency built around a closing window or a limited opportunity
- Any refusal to speak on video, or excuses about why the relationship must stay private
What to do now
- Stop sending money now, including any fee you were told is needed to release a withdrawal.
- Take screenshots of the profiles, chats, wallet addresses, and any site you were sent to, before anything is deleted.
- Check your account only through the official app you installed yourself, and change your password if you shared any details.
- Contact your bank or card issuer the same day if funds left through them, and ask what recovery options exist in your case.
- Report the accounts to the platform where you met, and report the loss to your national fraud reporting body.
- Ignore anyone who later offers to recover your funds for a fee, as that is a common follow-up approach.
Frequently asked questions
The platform shows my balance going up. Can I still get that money out?
A rising balance on a site controlled by someone else is just a number on a screen, not funds held for you. That is why withdrawal requests usually meet a new fee, a tax, or a verification payment. Do not send more money to release it. Gather evidence, report it to your bank and to fraud authorities, and let them assess what can be traced. Outcomes vary and no one can promise a recovery.
How can I tell whether someone really represents a brokerage?
Assume they do not, and verify independently. A genuine regulated firm handles your account inside its own app and does not assign a personal mentor through social media or a dating app. There is no legitimate reason to move your money to a separate platform or a private wallet to get better returns. If you want to check a firm or an adviser, look them up through your country's financial regulator using a search you started yourself.