₦airaland Forum

Warm compliments of the festive season to all my fellow Nairalanders, wishing you joy and happiness during this special time of the year.

I was recently looking at some eye-opening statistics that truly shocked me. Did you know that between the years 2016 and 2025, Nigerians have collectively lost more than ₦4.88 Trillion to various Ponzi schemes? This staggering amount highlights the severe impact these fraudulent schemes have had on individuals and the economy over nearly a decade.

From the legendary MMM scandal that shook the financial world back in 2016 to the recent devastating CBEX crash that swallowed over ₦1.3 Trillion just this year alone, the cycle of financial fraud and deception never seems to come to an end. Every single time one scheme "crashes" and collapses, another one quickly emerges under a new name—often cleverly disguising itself using trendy buzzwords like AI, Crypto, or E-commerce as a form of "packaging" designed to mislead and deceive unsuspecting people.

The Big Debate: Greed or Poverty?

Whenever a particular scheme crashes and falls apart, causing significant distress and leading people to start "crying blood" metaphorically due to the severe consequences, the comment section inevitably becomes divided into two distinct groups:

The "Poverty/Sapa" Defense

The current economic situation is extremely challenging for many people. Inflation has surged past 30%, and the Naira is rapidly losing value against the Dollar, almost as if it is swimming backwards. This harsh reality has left countless individuals and families in a state of desperation.

When a scheme like Loom comes along promising to transform just ₦10,000 into ₦80,000 within a matter of days, it can appear to be the only possible way out for someone struggling to feed their family. Scammers are fully aware of this vulnerability and deliberately present themselves as "community helpers," exploiting the desperation of people who are barely surviving.

The "Greed" Reality

On the other hand, how can anyone reasonably explain a "business" that boldly promises an astounding 100% ROI in just 30 days? To put this into perspective, even the world’s most powerful and established banks cannot guarantee a 30% return over the course of an entire year.

Interestingly, some of the people who fall for these schemes are not those struggling financially—they are often well-to-do individuals such as doctors, bankers, and other professionals who simply desire "fast money" without putting in the usual hard work. They fully understand that it’s a high-risk gamble, yet they hold onto the hope that they can "cash out" early and leave the unfortunate "lastcomers" to bear the financial losses and carry the burden.

The "Red Flags" We Keep Ignoring

Unrealistic Returns: Any investment opportunity that promises to double your money within just a single month should be treated as a major red flag and approached with extreme caution. Such claims are often too good to be true and can be a sign of potential scams or fraudulent schemes designed to take advantage of unsuspecting investors.

The "Bring Two People" Model: When the income is generated solely from recruiting new members, rather than from selling actual products or services, it functions as a pyramid scheme rather than a legitimate business opportunity. This model relies heavily on continuously bringing in new participants to sustain earnings, which is unsustainable and often unethical.

Vague Business Models: Many of these schemes claim to be involved in activities such as "Forex trading," "AI-powered Trading," or "Gold Mining", yet they fail to provide any concrete evidence or transparent information about how the money is actually being generated or where it is being invested. This lack of clarity makes it difficult to verify the legitimacy of their operations or understand the true source of their revenue.

My Question to the House

Why do we continue to fall for these things time and time again? Is it possible that the widespread hunger and desperation throughout the land have clouded our ability to see things clearly and make sound judgments, or is it simply that we are a nation comprised of people who are irresistibly drawn to the idea of receiving "free money"?

Have you ever found yourself in the unfortunate position of being a victim? Or perhaps you managed to "cash out" just in time before the big crash happened? We would love to hear your personal story and experiences related to this. Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights in the comments section below. #MMM #CBEX #PonziScheme #NigeriaEconomy #Sapa #Investment

Greediness
Covetousness

Spot on. The 'Get Rich Quick' mentality is a spirit in this country. Everybody wants to 'hammer' without sweat. Once they see 'Double your money,' their brain just resets

muyico:
Greediness
Covetousness

Greed

Miracle money..

They’ve been told in church that miracle exist..

It’s a mix. The religious 'seed sowing' mentality has definitely played a role. People are now wired to believe they can 'sow' ₦50k and 'reap' ₦500k by miracle. Scammers just changed the name from 'Seed' to 'Investment'

PulaPower:
Greed

Miracle money..

They’ve been told in church that miracle exist..

Poverty is the main reason.

Greed
Greed
Greed
Greed

It can never die, same as gambling/betting..they are lazy as well

Na mumuism dey worry us no be ponzi.
If I say world will end tomorrow despite people knowing that a Ghanaian man cashed using using thesame format, Nigerians will still pay me money. That's the level we dey. Even some nairalanders reading this will pay. People that construct better english than I do will even pay more. Mumu 😆

This one is not poverty because when you hear the amount people lost you will be shocked they even have such.Its purely greed.

nothing like greed its poverty and uncertainty.
I am a jobless graduate, addicted to betting. anytime i try to stop then I will say to myself what the fk will I do if I stop? its the only thing that gives me hope in this life

I did not fall for it like last month ,someone asked me to send 12k to his account that he will send 48k back to me the next 3days,
I just told him to deduct the 12k out of the 48k and send me the balance

No race is immune to ponzi schemes

The federal government is also running a ponzi scheme.
The government is using borrowed funds to repay new loans. The interest rates on treasury bonds is about 25 percent.

What business is the federal government doing to raise more than 25 Percent on its borrowed funds?

The only solution would be to further devalue the Naira.

Nigerians easily forget the past

Akinpedia

This Ponzi thing don tire me.

I am from a very conservative Christian group and we have been counselled severally to steer clear of them. There was a particular one in the earlier 2000s. Announcements were made that brothers and sisters engaged in it must stop. Some still continued and it led to sanctions. People with privileges were stripped of them. There were no sacred cows.

Despite these, some never learn

A newly widowed sister sought help from the congregation due to the financial pressure. The congregation raised a large sum of money which was given toi her. She invested this money into a Ponzi scheme and lost it all.

Despite this, another sister, got a loan of around 1m from a microfinance bank. She was to be making payments of 50k to them weekly until the loan and interest was to be paid of.

She stocked her shop and things were going great. A friend approached her, telling her of a pyramid scheme that she invested money into it and got her first payout. My Christian sister now invested 250k into it and promptly lost everything.

I was fuming. This is a woman I personally lent 500k due to the fact that she is the sole breadwinner as the husband has no income. She learnt absolutely nothing from the other sister who lost everything.

The 250k has taken a huge toll on her.

What is sad is that I see her repeating the same mistake again. She keeps saying "they were paying." I told her that "they were paying" to hoodwink people, that is how Ponzi schemes work. They need to deceive the first set of investors so as to lure in others. Despite that, she keeps saying "they were paying." It was even her that received that payment but the one who invited her into the scheme.

Yes, some never learn.

Greed
Poverty
Unemployment
Weak Financial regulations
No adequate financial protection or security

I think most of us knows is a gambling, we just risk it maybe we will hit it. Moreover, many play Nairabet, sport bet, Baba Jebu, Pool on daily bases. So we all know the possible outcome but just to strike it, as we see some people who jam money through it.


The only concern I have is, what are Government doing to all these foreign fraudsters that operate in Nigeria without approval? I believe they have capacity to shut them down or block their operations in Nigeria domain. Atleast we saw what they do for twitter

Akinpedia:
Warm compliments of the festive season to all my fellow Nairalanders, wishing you joy and happiness during this special time of the year.

I was recently looking at some eye-opening statistics that truly shocked me. Did you know that between the years 2016 and 2025, Nigerians have collectively lost more than ₦4.88 Trillion to various Ponzi schemes? This staggering amount


highlights the severe impact these fraudulent schemes have had on individuals and the economy over nearly a decade.

From the legendary MMM scandal that shook the financial world back in 2016 to the recent devastating CBEX crash that swallowed over ₦1.3 Trillion just this year alone, the cycle of financial fraud and deception never seems to come to an end. Every single time one scheme "crashes" and collapses, another one quickly emerges under a new name—often cleverly disguising itself using trendy buzzwords like AI, Crypto, or E-commerce as a form of "packaging" designed to mislead and deceive unsuspecting people.

The Big Debate: Greed or Poverty?

Whenever a particular scheme crashes and falls apart, causing significant distress and leading people to start "crying blood" metaphorically due to the severe consequences, the comment section inevitably becomes divided into two distinct groups:

The "Poverty/Sapa" Defense

The current economic situation is extremely challenging for many people. Inflation has surged past 30%, and the Naira is rapidly losing value against the Dollar, almost as if it is swimming backwards. This harsh reality has left countless individuals and families in a state of desperation.

When a scheme like Loom comes along promising to transform just ₦10,000 into ₦80,000 within a matter of days, it can appear to be the only possible way out for someone struggling to feed their family. Scammers are fully aware of this vulnerability and deliberately present themselves as "community helpers," exploiting the desperation of people who are barely surviving.

The "Greed" Reality

On the other hand, how can anyone reasonably explain a "business" that boldly promises an astounding 100% ROI in just 30 days? To put this into perspective, even the world’s most powerful and established banks cannot guarantee a 30% return over the course of an entire year.

Interestingly, some of the people who fall for these schemes are not those struggling financially—they are often well-to-do individuals such as doctors, bankers, and other professionals who simply desire "fast money" without putting in the usual hard work. They fully understand that it’s a high-risk gamble, yet they hold onto the hope that they can "cash out" early and leave the unfortunate "lastcomers" to bear the financial losses and carry the burden.

The "Red Flags" We Keep Ignoring

Unrealistic Returns: Any investment opportunity that promises to double your money within just a single month should be treated as a major red flag and approached with extreme caution. Such claims are often too good to be true and can be a sign of potential scams or fraudulent schemes designed to take advantage of unsuspecting investors.

The "Bring Two People" Model: When the income is generated solely from recruiting new members, rather than from selling actual products or services, it functions as a pyramid scheme rather than a legitimate business opportunity. This model relies heavily on continuously bringing in new participants to sustain earnings, which is unsustainable and often unethical.

Vague Business Models: Many of these schemes claim to be involved in activities such as "Forex trading," "AI-powered Trading," or "Gold Mining", yet they fail to provide any concrete evidence or transparent information about how the money is actually being generated or where it is being invested. This lack of clarity makes it difficult to verify the legitimacy of their operations or understand the true source of their revenue.

My Question to the House

Why do we continue to fall for these things time and time again? Is it possible that the widespread hunger and desperation throughout the land have clouded our ability to see things clearly and make sound judgments, or is it simply that we are a nation comprised of people who are irresistibly drawn to the idea of receiving "free money"?

Have you ever found yourself in the unfortunate position of being a victim? Or perhaps you managed to "cash out" just in time before the big crash happened? We would love to hear your personal story and experiences related to this. Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights in the comments section below. #MMM #CBEX #PonziScheme #NigeriaEconomy #Sapa #Investment

Omo I feel it's ignorance

Akinpedia:
Warm compliments of the festive season to all my fellow Nairalanders, wishing you joy and happiness during this special time of the year.

I was recently looking at some eye-opening statistics that truly shocked me. Did you know that between the years 2016 and 2025, Nigerians have collectively lost more than ₦4.88 Trillion to various Ponzi schemes? This staggering amount highlights the severe impact these fraudulent schemes have had on individuals and the economy over nearly a decade.

From the legendary MMM scandal that shook the financial world back in 2016 to the recent devastating CBEX crash that swallowed over ₦1.3 Trillion just this year alone, the cycle of financial fraud and deception never seems to come to an end. Every single time one scheme "crashes" and collapses, another one quickly emerges under a new name—often cleverly disguising itself using trendy buzzwords like AI, Crypto, or E-commerce as a form of "packaging" designed to mislead and deceive unsuspecting people.

The Big Debate: Greed or Poverty?

Whenever a particular scheme crashes and falls apart, causing significant distress and leading people to start "crying blood" metaphorically due to the severe consequences, the comment section inevitably becomes divided into two distinct groups:

The "Poverty/Sapa" Defense

The current economic situation is extremely challenging for many people. Inflation has surged past 30%, and the Naira is rapidly losing value against the Dollar, almost as if it is swimming backwards. This harsh reality has left countless individuals and families in a state of desperation.

When a scheme like Loom comes along promising to transform just ₦10,000 into ₦80,000 within a matter of days, it can appear to be the only possible way out for someone struggling to feed their family. Scammers are fully aware of this vulnerability and deliberately present themselves as "community helpers," exploiting the desperation of people who are barely surviving.

The "Greed" Reality

On the other hand, how can anyone reasonably explain a "business" that boldly promises an astounding 100% ROI in just 30 days? To put this into perspective, even the world’s most powerful and established banks cannot guarantee a 30% return over the course of an entire year.

Interestingly, some of the people who fall for these schemes are not those struggling financially—they are often well-to-do individuals such as doctors, bankers, and other professionals who simply desire "fast money" without putting in the usual hard work. They fully understand that it’s a high-risk gamble, yet they hold onto the hope that they can "cash out" early and leave the unfortunate "lastcomers" to bear the financial losses and carry the burden.

The "Red Flags" We Keep Ignoring

Unrealistic Returns: Any investment opportunity that promises to double your money within just a single month should be treated as a major red flag and approached with extreme caution. Such claims are often too good to be true and can be a sign of potential scams or fraudulent schemes designed to take advantage of unsuspecting investors.

The "Bring Two People" Model: When the income is generated solely from recruiting new members, rather than from selling actual products or services, it functions as a pyramid scheme rather than a legitimate business opportunity. This model relies heavily on continuously bringing in new participants to sustain earnings, which is unsustainable and often unethical.

Vague Business Models: Many of these schemes claim to be involved in activities such as "Forex trading," "AI-powered Trading," or "Gold Mining", yet they fail to provide any concrete evidence or transparent information about how the money is actually being generated or where it is being invested. This lack of clarity makes it difficult to verify the legitimacy of their operations or understand the true source of their revenue.

My Question to the House

Why do we continue to fall for these things time and time again? Is it possible that the widespread hunger and desperation throughout the land have clouded our ability to see things clearly and make sound judgments, or is it simply that we are a nation comprised of people who are irresistibly drawn to the idea of receiving "free money"?

Have you ever found yourself in the unfortunate position of being a victim? Or perhaps you managed to "cash out" just in time before the big crash happened? We would love to hear your personal story and experiences related to this. Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights in the comments section below. #MMM #CBEX #PonziScheme #NigeriaEconomy #Sapa #Investment

IN THIS, ONLY ONE THING LEADS TO BOTH GREED AND POVERTY, AND THAT IS 'FAILED SYSTEM OTHERWISE KNOWN AS POOR/ INEFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE'

I think it's usually a combination of both greed and poverty

God. Created fools to balance Earth!

You humans have always failed to realize and accept that, the animal and human kingdom are not different!

At some point, you all will have to feed on yourself! The most vulnerable will be the meat!

Holluwhakemmy:
I did not fall for it like last month ,someone asked me to send 12k to his account that he will send 48k back to me the next 3days,
I just told him to deduct the 12k out of the 48k and send me the balance

Cunny man die, cunny man bury am!

madridguy:
Poverty is the main reason.

Greed is the main reason. Se na only in Nigeria where they have poor people?

Nah... Not poverty.

Just greed and stupidity.

Ponzinwill always exist as long as human greed exists

Akinpedia:
Warm compliments of the festive season to all my fellow Nairalanders, wishing you joy and happiness during this special time of the year.

I was recently looking at some eye-opening statistics that truly shocked me. Did you know that between the years 2016 and 2025, Nigerians have collectively lost more than ₦4.88 Trillion to various Ponzi schemes? This staggering amount highlights the severe impact these fraudulent schemes have had on individuals and the economy over nearly a decade.

From the legendary MMM scandal that shook the financial world back in 2016 to the recent devastating CBEX crash that swallowed over ₦1.3 Trillion just this year alone, the cycle of financial fraud and deception never seems to come to an end. Every single time one scheme "crashes" and collapses, another one quickly emerges under a new name—often cleverly disguising itself using trendy buzzwords like AI, Crypto, or E-commerce as a form of "packaging" designed to mislead and deceive unsuspecting people.

The Big Debate: Greed or Poverty?

Whenever a particular scheme crashes and falls apart, causing significant distress and leading people to start "crying blood" metaphorically due to the severe consequences, the comment section inevitably becomes divided into two distinct groups:

The "Poverty/Sapa" Defense

The current economic situation is extremely challenging for many people. Inflation has surged past 30%, and the Naira is rapidly losing value against the Dollar, almost as if it is swimming backwards. This harsh reality has left countless individuals and families in a state of desperation.

When a scheme like Loom comes along promising to transform just ₦10,000 into ₦80,000 within a matter of days, it can appear to be the only possible way out for someone struggling to feed their family. Scammers are fully aware of this vulnerability and deliberately present themselves as "community helpers," exploiting the desperation of people who are barely surviving.

The "Greed" Reality

On the other hand, how can anyone reasonably explain a "business" that boldly promises an astounding 100% ROI in just 30 days? To put this into perspective, even the world’s most powerful and established banks cannot guarantee a 30% return over the course of an entire year.

Interestingly, some of the people who fall for these schemes are not those struggling financially—they are often well-to-do individuals such as doctors, bankers, and other professionals who simply desire "fast money" without putting in the usual hard work. They fully understand that it’s a high-risk gamble, yet they hold onto the hope that they can "cash out" early and leave the unfortunate "lastcomers" to bear the financial losses and carry the burden.

The "Red Flags" We Keep Ignoring

Unrealistic Returns: Any investment opportunity that promises to double your money within just a single month should be treated as a major red flag and approached with extreme caution. Such claims are often too good to be true and can be a sign of potential scams or fraudulent schemes designed to take advantage of unsuspecting investors.

The "Bring Two People" Model: When the income is generated solely from recruiting new members, rather than from selling actual products or services, it functions as a pyramid scheme rather than a legitimate business opportunity. This model relies heavily on continuously bringing in new participants to sustain earnings, which is unsustainable and often unethical.

Vague Business Models: Many of these schemes claim to be involved in activities such as "Forex trading," "AI-powered Trading," or "Gold Mining", yet they fail to provide any concrete evidence or transparent information about how the money is actually being generated or where it is being invested. This lack of clarity makes it difficult to verify the legitimacy of their operations or understand the true source of their revenue.

My Question to the House

Why do we continue to fall for these things time and time again? Is it possible that the widespread hunger and desperation throughout the land have clouded our ability to see things clearly and make sound judgments, or is it simply that we are a nation comprised of people who are irresistibly drawn to the idea of receiving "free money"?

Have you ever found yourself in the unfortunate position of being a victim? Or perhaps you managed to "cash out" just in time before the big crash happened? We would love to hear your personal story and experiences related to this. Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights in the comments section below. #MMM #CBEX #PonziScheme #NigeriaEconomy #Sapa #Investment

Both.

But it tilts towards Greed more.

Poverty is a factor too.

POVEREED. is the reason.

No more, no less

Both is the cause anyways but as you're taking loss statistics, don't neglect gains also.
There will forever be two sides to a coin.

muyico:
Greediness
Covetousness

Both greed and poverty will keep fueling it.

There’s no difference between Ponzi scheme and sowing of seed in a business centre (church)

Because you give all you have to a scammer on a pulpit with the hope that your intentions (profits) materialise, while the scammer (pastor) buys the latest properties with your money (his own reward is your money)