Before CBEX, a digital asset trading platform, collapsed on Monday, Nigerians in their hundreds of thousands were enthralled with the Ponzi scheme. Numerous tales were told of several people who obtained loans to invest in CBEX; several others were said to have 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 at the banks with their huge cashouts from the Ponzi scheme.
The collapse of CBEX has left thousands of Nigerians in financial ruin. On Monday evening, videos flooded social media showing men and women besieging the Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State, CBEX office. Many of those at the premises were seen lamenting their losses with tears streaming down their faces. While some were busy looting the company’s offices in a rage, others watched helplessly as their life savings vanished. The story was no different from what had occurred in Lagos.
CBEX, Another Small Dot In Financial Scam History
CBEX had promised the age-old Ponzi scheme, which had its roots in the atrocious scams perpetrated by the Italian-born Charles Ponzi, the indisputable grandfather of the scheme. Charles Ponzi, who infamously defrauded investors in the 1920s by promising astronomical returns, paid early investors with the money of recruits. CBEX emulated Ponzi’s scheme as it promised to double 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 victim to the scheme, which comes in different names but with the same pattern, recklessness, and heartbreak.
Around 2007/2008, a company known as “Wealth Solution,” similar to CBEX, swept across Nigerian cities with the promise of massive returns and quick financial freedom. People sold cars and homes and borrowed from cooperatives, but when it was time to cash out, they were ignored.
However, CBEX was especially painful due to its alluring charms associated with modernity. Unlike its predecessors, CBEX masqueraded as a cryptocurrency trading hub, combining digital sophistication with traditional deceit.
Despite possessing corporate offices with well-known addresses, CBEX lacked registration, transparency, and accountability. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued several warnings about unregistered platforms, yet Nigerians have persistently succumbed to CBEX’s allure of 100% 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, financial scams have been a persistent issue for over 40 years, with the Umanah Umanah experience. However, most of these scams have occurred on a relatively small scale.
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, several other digitally savvy Ponzi schemes had entered the country since the MMM in 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
- 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 that accompany them will not leave us in this climate so soon. For as long as we continue to believe in creating and exploring shortcuts to quick riches, the more 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, as stated below, may help a reasonable person 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 could end up burned! — The business cycle isn’t regular. Be cautious around investments that promise 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 unregulated areas.
Do you ever feel a sense of 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.
