This influencer was scammed out of thousands in crypto — and has a tip to help you avoid fraud

Carly Rowena, a British fitness and wellness influencer, is embarrassed as she recalls being duped into handing over £5,700 ($7,450) worth of cryptocurrency in a scam.

"I was like, it was too good to be true, and I still fell for it," she told CNBC Make It.

Rowena transferred the crypto to an Instagram account she believed belonged to a finance professional managing investments for a friend. But after discovering that her friend's account had been hacked, Rowena says she felt "stupid."

Here, Rowena shares her story with CNBC Make It, including the red flags she now knows to watch for when navigating the online world.

If something online appears "too good to be true," that's because it probably is, according to Rowena.

Her top piece of advice is to pause and think carefully about a proposition online that appears too good to be true.

"It's stopping and thinking, and it's having a conversation with someone," she told CNBC Make It last week.

"It's giving yourself that chance to be like, no opportunity will just vanish in a second. If it's the right thing for you, and it's legit, it's not going to disappear at your fingertips like that."

Rowena also recommends screenshotting relevant messages to keep as evidence for yourself — and, if needed, the authorities — as well as contacting your bank and other trusted institutions for advice.

Rowena, 37, is an entrepreneur and content creator on Instagram, where she shares fitness and wellness advice and stories about her experience as a mom to more than 187,000 followers. The influencer, who also has 410,000 subscribers on YouTube and a sizable following on TikTok, has lived in Costa Rica with her husband and son since January.

In March, Rowena spotted a fake Instagram story, supposedly