NovaStake Vault froze my wallet and started asking for verification fees

Posting this because I almost sent even more money.

I connected my wallet to novastakevault.org after seeing people discussing their staking pools on Discord. Their dashboard displayed consistent rewards and I eventually built my balance to about $2,100.

Once the staking period ended, I initiated a withdrawal and expected the transaction to appear on-chain. Instead, the platform placed my account under manual verification.

Support informed me I needed to pay a 12% security validation fee before the smart contract could release the funds. I asked why they couldn't deduct the amount directly from my existing balance, but they ignored that question completely.

That was enough for me to stop interacting with them. If you're being asked to send more crypto just to unlock your own funds, think twice.