Re: But isn't this what (real) criminals would do?
I have. It was some stock options from a company I was working for that did a merger and IPO, and I had to decide if I was going to accept or reject the options, and then decide if I was going to invest since the options had a very short window to purchase or not purchase the stock at the IPO price.
I'd have lost less money if it was a scammer. I didn't lose the whole investment, only about 3/4 of it. If I'd bought Apple stock with that money instead and held it until now I'd have been a millionaire.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
