No matter where you go, you’re bound to encounter scammers trying to trick you with their various schemes, it’s inevitable. So the bottom line is, don’t be too quick to trust the help offered by others. It’s okay to ask a question or two, but always make sure you don’t share sensitive information, click on any links they provide, or respond to suspicious messages, because scammers often use overly friendly messages to make their victims feel like they’re offering genuine help. If you’re still unsure, you can reply to that thread, search online, or ask for help from AI if needed.
I don’t see anything bad in asking questions publicly, because you will get help by the right people and you will also learn from several responses from the community members as long as you are willing to learn.
Accepting help through pm after public complain is something one should not do because the public are already guiding you, responding to PMs will lead to scam because the forum has already warn against responding to PMs when it’s from an unknown user that come to help, they are not real, the real forum members that have reputations and will be willing to help you will come publicly to render their service to you for free, and if it warrants further explanation, it will be done in the right way.