#compliance-fee

My 'broker' is demanding a 'compliance declaration fee' to withdraw profits. Is this legit or a new scam?

Hey everyone, I'm feeling really stupid right now. I got into forex trading a few months ago after seeing some ads on Instagram. It seemed easy enough, and I _thought_ I was making pretty good money with this broker called OptionStarsGlobal. I put in about £2k initially and my account dashboard showed it growing to nearly £10k. So I tried to withdraw some profits, just £1k to test the waters, and everything immediately stopped. First, they emailed me saying there was a 'temporary system issue', then nothing. I chased them for a week, and now today, they hit me with this email saying I owe a 'compliance declaration fee' of £500 before they can process *any* withdrawal. They're saying it's for 'regulatory cross-border transaction compliance'. This sounds fishy, but I really want my money, even just the initial £2k. Has anyone heard of this before? Is this a standard thing or have I been scammed?