A "bot" talked me into paying. I did.

A chatbot on a site I reached from a search ad said it could unlock a refund for a subscription I did not recognise.

It used my name, sounded patient, and “escalated” me to a supervisor bot that asked for a small verification fee before releasing the money.

The script felt like real support: apologies, order numbers that looked plausible, then a link to buy a little crypto for “blockchain verification” so the refund could post.

Screenshots on the page showed fake balances climbing while I waited, and two hours passed before I sent the payment.

The site was AI-assisted social engineering—polite, personalised, and endless—but the payment was still a normal irreversible transfer.

After I sent about nine hundred dollars, the bot asked for another “clearance” step and the chat went quiet when I refused.

While it was happening I trusted anything that looked like an official help desk; I told myself a refund fee was odd but smaller than what I thought I was owed.

When I opened the real company’s app and asked human support, they said they had no bot on that domain and WHOIS showed the site was only a few days old.

I work in tech, which made admitting the loss harder; I changed passwords everywhere and filed a report, but I still replay how easily the interface earned my trust.

I only use support inside apps I installed or sites whose URL I type from a statement.

Any refund that asks for crypto or gift cards is fraud.

• Real refunds do not require you to send crypto, wire cash, or buy gift cards first.
• Report fraud to your payment provider and consumer protection (e.g. FTC in the US).

For more help, see our Report a scam page and Spot and avoid scams guide.