Until the eventual collapse of CBEX, a digital asset trading platform, on Monday, the Ponzi scheme was the toast on the lips of Nigerians in their hundreds of thousands. Numerous tales were told of several people who obtained loans to invest in CBEX; several others were said to had sold their properties, including land and vehicles to participate in the scheme.
Indeed, while the CBEX honeymoon lasted and before the bubble eventually burst, we were regaled with stories of how people were smiling to the banks with their huge cash outs from the Ponzi scheme.
With the collapse of CBEX, thousands of Nigerians have been left in financial ruin. On Monday evening, videos flooded the social media showing men and women besieging the Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State office CBEX. Many of those at the premises were seen lamenting their losses with years steaming down their eyes, while some others were busy looting the company’s offices in rage, just as some others were watching helplessly, lamenting how their life savings disappeared into the thin air. The story was not different from what obtained in Lagos.
CBEX, Another Small Dot In History Of Financial Scams
CBEX had promised the age-old Ponzi lure, which had its root in the atrocious scams perpetrated by the Italian-born Charles Ponzi who was the indisputable grandfather of the scheme. Charles, it was, who, in the 1920s, infamously defrauded investors by promising astronomical returns, paying early investors with the money of new recruits. CBEX faithfully imbibed the idea as it promised doubling the investment of its investors in 35 days, only to vanish when it had gathered enough victims.
Ponzi Scam Didn’t Start In Nigeria With CBEX
Long before the advent of CBEX, and for those who can remember, the 1980s saw one of Nigeria’s earliest recorded Ponzi schemes, Umanah Umanah, which set the stage for the decades of fraud to follow. More than four decades later, several Nigerians are still falling victims of the scheme, coming with different names but with the same pattern, same recklessness and the same heartbreak.
Around 2007/2008, a company known as ‘Wealth Solution’, just like CBEX, swept across Nigerian cities with the promise of massive returns and quick financial freedom. People sold cars, homes, even borrowed from cooperative societies, only to be hit with silence when it was time to cash out.
CBEX, however, was particularly more painful as it came with the alluring charms known with modernity. Unlike the others before it, CBEX was masked as a cryptocurrency trading hub, blending digital sophistication with old-school deceit.
Though it had corporate offices, with physical addresses scattered all over the places, CBEX was never registered, never transparent, and never accountable. Despite several warnings from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about unregistered platforms, Nigerians have continue to fall prey, particularly of CBEX, seduced by the mirage of 100 per cent monthly returns.
List Of Ponzi Schemes In Nigeria So Far
Nigeria has witnessed a continuous rise in financial fraud through Ponzi schemes, the latest being CBEX. As noted above with the Umanah Umanah experience, financial scams have been with us for over 40 years. But all these have been on relatively small scales.
However, the boom in the scheme, though exemplified by the most recent sad experience, CBEX, became more pronounced with the advent of the MMM in 2016; many homes and families are still in distress, mourning their financial losses from the MMM experience.
Before the CBEX experiment, below are some other digital-savvy Ponzi schemes which have reportedly found their ways into the country since after the MMM (2016)…
Ultimate Cycler – 2016; Get Help Worldwide (GHW) – 2016; Twinkas – 2016; Icharity Club – 2016; Crowd Rising – 2016; Claritta – 2016; Help2Get – 2016; Loopers Club – 2016; Givers Forum – 2016; NNN Nigeria – 2017; MMM Cooperation – 2017; GCCH (Global Crediting Cooperative Hub) – 2017; Money Riot – 2017; RevoMoney – 2017;
SwissGolden (Nigeria version) – 2017; NNU (Nigeria News Update) – 2017; Peer2Peer Donation – 2017; Twinkas Reloaded – 2017; Donation Hub – 2017; MyBonus – 2017; ZarFund – 2017; Bitclub Advantage – 2018; Million Money – 2018; Helping Hands International – 2018; DGSOUK – 2018; Pennywise – 2018; Loom – 2019; Crowd1 – 2019;
Lion’s Share – 2020; InksNation – 2020; Baraza Multipurpose Cooperative – 2020; Racksterli – 2020; 86FB (aka 86Z) – 2021; Eagle Cooperative – 2021; Royal Q (Nigerian scam version) – 2021; FINAFRICA – 2021; Ovaioza Farm Produce Storage – 2022; QNet (Nigeria) – 2022; Afriq Arbitrage System (AAS) – 2022;
MBA Forex – 2022; Chinmark Group – 2022; Inksledger – 2022; Axim Exchange – 2022; Compoundly – 2024; CALA (Cala Finance) – 2023; 6Dollars Investment – 2023; Sidra Investment (cloned scam version) – 2024; WealthBuddy – 2024; and BitFinance Global – 2025.
Why Are Ponzi Schemes Thriving In Nigeria?
As painful as the CBEX experience is, it appears that Ponzi schemes and the tears and cries accompanying them will not leave us in this clime so soon. For as long as we continue to believe in creating and exploring short cuts to quick riches, the more of Ponzi schemes we will continue to have with us, notwithstanding the attendant pains and agonies they bring in their wakes.
How To Avoid Digitalised Financial Scams
While nothing can be done to appease the insatiable greed inherent in humans, some hints and tips, as stated below, maybe helpful to any reasonable man to avoid the path of the CBEX temptation…
Is there a secret sauce? Don’t invest in something if you don’t fully understand the details.
Regular returns? You might get burned! — The business cycle isn’t regular. Be cautious around an investment that promises regular (above average) returns.
Beware of unrealistic expectations… of quick wealth creation! Scams can proliferate in economic boom times.
If you’re in the ‘sticks,’ be careful with your picks! — Scams tend to pop up in areas that are unregulated.
Do you ever have any fear of missing out? Don’t forget to doubt! — Don’t let Financial FOMO (Financial Fear Of Missing Out), in the context of anxiety of potentially missing out on financial opportunities or gains that others are experiencing, disarm your skepticism.
