#fund-authentication-fee

Unregulated broker won't let me withdraw 'profits' without a 'fund authentication fee'. Scam?

Hey everyone, I'm in a bit of a panic here. I've been 'trading' with this platform I found online, they said they were a forex broker. Things seemed to be going really well, my account balance just kept growing, which felt amazing. I tried to withdraw some of the 'profits' – just a few thousand to test the waters – and now they're saying I need to pay a 'fund authentication fee' before they can process it. They're asking for about 15% of the withdrawal amount. I'm based in Adelaide, Australia. I originally funded the account with crypto (USDT) because they pushed for it, which in hindsight was probably a red flag. I've sent them a few messages asking for clarification, but they're just repeating the same thing. I haven't paid it yet, but I'm worried if I don't, I'll lose everything. Has anyone encountered this specific fee before? Is this just how unregulated brokers operate, or am I being scammed? Any advice would be huge.