I Almost Fell for a Scam Disguised as My Big Break

For over six months, I chased the biggest business opportunity I’d ever been promised.

It started innocently enough with a connection through a trusted friend. There were a few quirks, sure. Some strange communication patterns, vague answers, and a lot of “trust me, it’s coming.” But when business is slower than you’d like and something that looks legitimate shows up, it’s easy to brush off those early red flags.

Especially when you want to believe it’s real.

What started as a straightforward $30K branding project soon evolved into something much bigger. He introduced a new opportunity: a chance to bring my training program into a fintech incubator. With numbers being thrown around like £10,000 per participant – multiplied by dozens of startups, with the promise of multiple cohorts – I was suddenly staring down the barrel of over a million dollars in annual income.

Let that sink in.

I’ve been in business for almost a decade. I’ve built something I’m deeply proud of. But this? This felt like the moment I’d been working toward. Like the universe was finally giving me the “YES” I had earned.

So I poured myself into it. Creating a full 6 month curriculum. I showed up for endless calls. I asked smart questions. I nudged, followed up, offered value. I even got excited when he told me the course would be accredited…and miraculously, a UK-based school appeared out of nowhere that could make that happen.

I kept thinking, “Is this really happening?”

Until it wasn’t.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, the conversation shifted. He started pressuring me to establish a new company in the UK (an entity he would help set up and manage). That didn’t sit right. I pushed back.

Then more delays. More investor issues. More empty promises. More pushing.

I kept thinking something was off, but I couldn’t figure out the angle. Why would he lie and string me along? What was in it for him?

And because I couldn’t see the scam clearly… I kept going. I followed the money. I silenced the part of me that knew better.

When I finally reached out directly to the school he claimed would accredit my course, the house of cards collapsed. I don’t think they had any idea what I was talking about.

What followed was a scathing message from him – an accusation that I had gone behind his back. That was the moment I knew: this was never real. Or at least, not in the way I believed it to be.

The hardest part was looking in the mirror and asking myself: “How did I let this go on for so long?”

Here’s the truth: I wanted it to be real. I wanted the windfall. I wanted the success story. I wanted the external validation that comes with finally crossing the 7-figure mark.

But more than that?

I had stopped listening to myself.

Somewhere over the past few years (after spending too much time listening to others) my intuition got quieter. My trust in myself got shakier. The noise of the world got louder than my own voice.

I let the red flags wave, and I kept going anyway.

So, what’s the lesson?

Trust isn’t just about others. It’s also about ourselves.

Since that experience, I’ve recommitted to tuning back in to me. My inner knowing. My pace. My vision.

2025 was one of the most challenging, beautiful, expansive, and confronting years of my life. And 2026? It’s the year I live out loud. That means showing up fully and authentically. Not just the curated, picture-perfect version. But the messy, human, learning-in-public version too.

Will I make mistakes again? Of course.
Will I keep growing from them? Absolutely.

I knew after this happened that one day I’d share — when it was a scar rather than an open wound. The shame no longer lives here. The wound has healed, and I share this story now in hopes that it helps someone else start listening to themselves again.

To see the red flags.
To trust their gut.
To release the shame.

Maybe you’ve been in a situation like this too. Maybe you ignored your intuition. Maybe you wanted something so badly that you let the red flags fade into the background.

You’re not alone.

And maybe, just maybe, this is your sign to pause. To listen in. To trust yourself again.

Because that’s where the real power lives.