※ This post is different from my usual illustrated diary entries. It’s a serious story about a recent investment scam I was involved in. If you're interested, please read on.

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◆ Introduction

Thank you as always for reading my blog.
Today, I want to share something very different from my usual content — a painful experience with an investment scam I was caught in recently.

I hesitated to write this at first. But I decided to share my story in the hope that it might prevent others from falling into the same trap.

Since this post is quite different from my usual illustrated diary entries, I’ve temporarily changed the blog category for clarity.

If you’re curious or concerned about online scams, I hope you'll read through this post.

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◆ What Happened

On July 7, I bought shares of a certain stock based on recommendations from an investment group I was invited to on WhatsApp.
Shortly after, the stock's price plummeted.

I later learned that this was a Pump-and-Dump scam.

The loss I incurred is $4,565 USD, which is approximately ¥671,055 JPY (at an exchange rate of 147 yen per dollar).
This was money I had worked very hard to save.

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◆ What is a Pump-and-Dump Scam?

A Pump-and-Dump scam is a fraudulent scheme that typically targets low-cap or illiquid stocks. Here's how it works:

1. Scammers secretly buy up a cheap stock

2. They aggressively promote it through social media, chat apps, etc.

3. New investors rush in and buy, pushing the price higher (the “pump”)

4. Scammers sell at the peak (the “dump”)

5. The price crashes, and the regular investors are left with big losses

These scams are considered market manipulation and are under investigation by authorities like the FBI and SEC in the United States.

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◆ How I Was Approached

In May, I was contacted on X (formerly Twitter) by someone who invited me to join an “exclusive investment group” on WhatsApp.

The group was named Smart Money Circle 325.
There were already more than 80 members when I joined, and it looked like an active and serious group.
However, after speaking to another victim later on X, I realized that most of the members were likely fake accounts controlled by the scammers.

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◆ Their Tactics

The group was led by a man acting as the "analyst," supported by a woman who helped moderate.

Every day, they shared what seemed like detailed and helpful information about the U.S. stock market — daily index trends, economic news, reasons behind market movements, and so on.
As a beginner, I found their explanations to be convincing and professional.

Eventually, they began recommending a specific stock.
They claimed that:

• A major investment firm had backed the company

• A meeting with a top analyst was coming up

• The stock was about to skyrocket

They instructed us to buy at a certain price and explicitly told us not to sell — even when the price began to fall.

They kept saying things like,
“Don’t worry,”
“Hold on,”
“It will bounce back in two days.”
But the price never recovered, and the losses deepened.

Eventually, the WhatsApp group went offline, and the scammers disappeared without a trace.

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◆ Where Things Stand Now

I've already reported everything to both the SEC and the FBI, and I understand that the case is being investigated.

However, the person who recruited me is still actively posting on social media, pretending to be a professional analyst.
I’m very afraid that more victims will be tricked in the same way.

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◆ How I’ve Been Affected

After realizing I had been scammed, I couldn’t eat or sleep. I was in shock and overwhelmed with anxiety.
The night of July 7, I could barely breathe from the pain and stress.

That money came from months of hard work — I don’t receive bonuses at my job, so I saved steadily each month, even doing side gigs from home to prepare for the future.

It breaks my heart to think that all that effort, all those hours, were stolen from me so easily.

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◆ My Request to You

I considered using international crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe, but they aren’t available in Japan.

I also thought about sharing my PayPal or bank account, but I’m honestly too fragile right now to face possible harassment or criticism.

So I’d like to ask for something different:

Please check out my work.
I’ve compiled my illustrated diaries into a free collection on Amazon.
Reading and sharing it would mean so much to me.

I’m just a regular mom of two who draws little comics about daily life.
This situation broke my heart, but writing about it is helping me begin to heal.

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◆ In Closing

Thank you so much for reading all the way through.
I truly hope that no one else has to go through what I did.

I’ll return to my regular illustrated diary in the next post.
Thank you again for your continued support.