Nigerians Lost 37 Million To Ponzi Schemes in 2016

After the collapse of MMM Zimbabwe in August last, Zimbabweans have not run out of ideas on how to lose money online. Zimbabweans have tried almost anything that comes their way and for most of them it has not been all rosy. One of the things I have seen is Zimbabweans are gullible, and they are not the only ones.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Thursday that Nigerians lost N11.9 billion (USD $ 36, 669,917.67) to the Ponzi scheme in 2016.

Speaking in Kano during the 2017 Bank-Wide Sensitization Campaign on CBN initiative programme, the apex bank Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Alhaji Yusuf Wali, warned Nigerians on the inherent danger associated with the subscription to Ponzi scheme.

He said: “I will also like to reiterate the position of the CBN on the need for the citizens to desist from unwholesome financial engagements in all Ponzi schemes. The Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum made public a recent daunting report on the losses suffered by the subscribers which amounted to N11.9 billion in December 2016.”

CBN warned against trading in Ponzi schemes or virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, and others, which are not authorised by the CBN due to the risks involved in their operations.

In spite of the bitter experience that millions of Nigerians have had since the foremost Ponzi scheme in the country, MMM pulled a break on its operation last December, similar schemes are springing up and many Nigerians are investing in them.

However since the collapse of MMM last year, Techunzipped has observed that most MMM participants who suffered the disappointment turned to other schemes to reclaim their funds.

Many participants who were interviewed by Techunzipped said they entered into such schemes as an alternative means of survival.  Popular among them were the MMM, Ultimate Cycler, Swiss Gold, iCharity and Get Help Worldwide (GHW).