I have a nearly similar introduction except I very narrowly avoided getting scammed. Like you I also arrived here in 2019. The only thing that saved me was that I already had a good background on crypto scams (likewise I very nearly fell for some "bitcoin generators" which are now defunct), so I was able to tell Ponzi scheme from legit.
Those so-called btc doubling sites were very rampant back in 2019 and later, am sure many people got scammed because of a lack of understanding. Several Ponzi platforms back then I even got cut up in a few but i was lucky i didn't put too much to will cause huge damage to me.
It is terrible what these scammers are doing to people, they lack any empathy and don't care what will be the outcome for their victims. @op keep your focus and always do your own research and ask questions on the right platform.