Obvious signs of Ponzi schemes.

[Ummeettaa]

I do not know if it is greed, or if our people just ignore all obvious signs of a ponzi. No matter how much ponzi organizers try to disguise and hide that they are not a ponzi, there are some common basic signs that gives them away.
These obvious signs are what I hope we can discuss about. Some of them that  I have noticed are;

1) You always need to bring someone or people.
Because it is a pyramid scheme that they hope to benefit from, there is no way it can thrive without you bringing someone in new.

2) They sometimes associate their scheme to an international person as the founder, or claim it is also done in other countries.
Associating the scheme with an international body of person gives it some level of sophistication I bet,  This is why they always do it this way so that they can attract gullible Nigerians more who always have the thinking that something from an international body is always better than what is present in our country.

3) Always the promise of quick returns.

What other signs have you noticed?

One of the things I have noticed with the Ponzi scheme is the convincing comments commented under the said advert, after over hyping the scheme. Once I notice mostly positive comments on an adver I consider it to be a Ponzi.

I also know a Ponzi scheme's when ever an investment advert do make a huge promises and assurance that are too good to be true or hard to believe, like asking someone to make an investment of 100,000 and get the opportunity to withdraw 1Million in a week.

I have also noticed that a Ponzi scheme always give a huge reward for referring someone, I have seen where a 6k referrer reward have been given to someone that invested 15k which is almost half of his investment. That is the sign of luring.

[Macabury]

Most of the ponzi go carry rewards go go make person wan sell their entire property just to invest. The annoying part be say some persons go even involve their family members and friends with full confidence say e go make them rich. Wetin I feel be say anything wey guarantee short term profit or wey promise person quick riches get higher chances of Ponzi scheme format and one get dey extra careful of that kind adventure.

[Lembo69]

Only those who seek high returns on small investments—and fall for the lures dangled by scammers—become victims of such Ponzi schemes. In the current climate of widespread fraud, an investor can remain safe only by exercising self-restraint and avoiding the temptation of excessive profits.

Those involved in such schemes are constantly on the lookout for human vulnerabilities. They feel no sense of shame in their actions; instead, they unhesitatingly engage in defrauding others. As long as investors remain off-guard, scammers will continue to exploit them. Therefore, we must exercise caution and cast aside greed.

[casey15]

You see that international affiliation, it's very common and they do it because they know most Nigerians are gullible and always want to do things that are shown to be from "abroad". There are genuine businesses with international collaborations that is why other signs are to be considered.. the most giving factor is the one of bringing somebody before you can earn... At first they won't tell you it's compulsory until maybe you have made little profit and unable to withdraw.. or your earnings are very low or you are not even earning at all, then they tell you that you have to bring up to 5 people before you can make money from it... They are all scams because at some point when people are not longer joing, they will run away with the money they have accumulated

[Cyber_warrior]

Only those who seek high returns on small investments—and fall for the lures dangled by scammers—become victims of such Ponzi schemes. In the current climate of widespread fraud, an investor can remain safe only by exercising self-restraint and avoiding the temptation of excessive profits.

Those involved in such schemes are constantly on the lookout for human vulnerabilities. They feel no sense of shame in their actions; instead, they unhesitatingly engage in defrauding others. As long as investors remain off-guard, scammers will continue to exploit them. Therefore, we must exercise caution and cast aside greed.

The economy is so bad that every Ponzi scheme is always having enough people to scam. The things is the rate of unemployment is so much, and for those that are employed, their salaries can barely cover their basic needs and wants. So every one in the country is lookin for how to get more(free) money to cover for their needs and want.

Ponzi scheme is everywhere, but the rate at which people fall victim to it is so much, there are people who even know it a scam but still they would put in their money, hoping they would get back more than what they put in before it crash.

So yes and their economical factor and also a high level of ignorance in Nigeria.

[Female King]

The signs you listed are correct for any scam investment, online investment scam didn't start today so a common Nigeria is supposed to know these signs by now to be able to detect a ponzi scheme investment, there was a recent one that happened like 3 months ago where millions people invested more money just to get as what they invested.

I still believe in time to come another one will still come and people will still fall for them, people won't still learn i don't think I will ever fall for these online scam again i was before a victim so with the experience i have and their signs of warning I can never fall for them again.
Most people out of greedness of wanting to get back more than what they invested in a short time losses what they invested.

[Uhwuchukwu53]

I dey run anytime I hear say you need to bring one person wey go bring another person. Them go whine you say na so you go take grow for the ladder, affiliate marketers dey use this key brainwash this people them dey always get word for mouth to use convince new members. For the owner part, I don notice am too. That time them say MMM na Russian man get am. This CBEX na Chinese allegedly. All the online ponzi schemes I don see, na Oyibo them dey use gain our trust.

You nailed the facts, many chooses to be fooled despite knowing the signs of Ponzi scheme, know market or investment that yeild without you as investor having knowledge of how the system is working if it's truly in right direction or wrong to detect your faith either to quit or continue. I took my stand against any investment that is as fast as speed of light to be ponzi and restraint from partaking because no genuine investment will give you that high return within such time range except ponzi, even those who trade faces challenge before they can account of reasonable amount but that if ponzi is different, just to be free one must have policy of controlling it's desires to pursue higher profit because genuine investment take some time to yeild maximally though not all investment.

[MainIbem]

The high rate of ponzi schemes in our country has made me not to trust any online investment no matter how trust worthy the owners claim it is and the first thing i look out for is if profiting from it requires referrals. I'm not even good as convincing people to put their money into what they don't understand or are not intrested in so i don't involve myself in such. Another thing to look out for is their licensemost of them use fake CAC license, if they're not authorized by CBN then it's never legit. Constantly changing of withdrawal rules is another way to spot a ponzi scheme, if it's legit then they'll be transparent on withdrawals too.

[Alvin_talk]

I do not know if it is greed, or if our people just ignore all obvious signs of a ponzi.

Yes, it's greed. people you see falling victims to these ponzi schemes are already aware of these signs. But they intentionally neglect them, hoping to eventually be  profitable before these scammers carry out their shady activities. That's why you'll hear things like "this one na still new update".

In my opinion, reviews are very important factor to consider too. Once I check your rating on trust pilot and Google review, I'll have a clue of the kind of organisation I am dealing with. Although, not 100% reliable but it has helped me escape so many scam scheme.

[Gozie51]

Constantly changing of withdrawal rules is another way to spot a ponzi scheme, if it's legit then they'll be transparent on withdrawals too.

The process of withdrawal in any investment we are doing is important but unfortunately, that stage is when you get to know that you are being scammed because it is the end point and last part. For example, if you want to process a withdrawal and you are asked to pay money before you are allowed to process what you have with them, you already thinking something is wrong. But, some people will still be adamant and go on to make such payment.

The issue therefore is to know early enough that such platform is fake so that you can avoid it on time.

We can check some of the red flags here  If it sounds too good to be true.

[Marvelockg]

Most of the ponzi go carry rewards go go make person wan sell their entire property just to invest. The annoying part be say some persons go even involve their family members and friends with full confidence say e go make them rich. Wetin I feel be say anything wey guarantee short term profit or wey promise person quick riches get higher chances of Ponzi scheme format and one get dey extra careful of that kind adventure.

We are not asking enough questions before investing in some of this ponzi scheme. if you ask the right question and you are patient to get answers, you will not fall into their trap.

Land banking is the new trend as we speak and a lot of people have fallen victim already. because of the hype around the real estate space, it is easy to be scammed by land bankers because you only discover that they are not legit at the expiration of your investment duration. Some of these are difficult to tell at first glance that they are not reputable because they have a team of active people working tirelessly in ensuring that they look legit. at some point, you have t trust your instinct if you get the prompting to not invest.

[adultcrypto]

We are not asking enough questions before investing in some of this ponzi scheme. if you ask the right question and you are patient to get answers, you will not fall into their trap.

Land banking is the new trend as we speak and a lot of people have fallen victim already. because of the hype around the real estate space, it is easy to be scammed by land bankers because you only discover that they are not legit at the expiration of your investment duration. Some of these are difficult to tell at first glance that they are not reputable because they have a team of active people working tirelessly in ensuring that they look legit. at some point, you have t trust your instinct if you get the prompting to not invest.

Land banking is a very risky business but the truthis that the risk is worth taking. Land is a scarce resources and fall into the basic needs of man, so every effort must be made to get a piece of land to be able to erect shelter. The only way to get land now is through what you called land banking unless you are rich and can afford land in choice locations and land that also have CoF. With proper due diligence, it is still possible to see genuine lands to buy even if the place is not yet developed.

[Tetu100]

Ok right now the Ponzi scheme post is now becoming Spammy.
There are already millions of post about Ponzi scheme even before the incidence of CBEX. Anyone seeking to know more about Ponzi scheme on this forum can just yes the search button and there will be lots of thread to read on. Let's not get caught in the Ponzi web and create spam on the board that belongs to all of us.

Maybe you consider this a spam, but it is not to me. There are many topics that become again relevant with time even though they have been discussed before, and I think this is one of them.
There were already many topics concerning Ponzi before the newest Ponzi had its victims of which some forum members were part of, they did not search for Ponzi related topics, so they became victims again.
Ponzi Operators will be cooking up another ponzi to unveil, and with these obvious signs of it, it is easier for us to avoid.

I think so too since it will serve as a quick reminder to people that has seen it already and also some other people that are newly joining the forum and haven't come across something like this.

That been said. Another thing I also want to add is that, we on our own side we should try and deal with quick money making mindset. There is no genuine success that come so fast as possible, once stuff like that is presented then we should know it's false and running after it can be disastrous. Remember, attractive offers are usually their way of attracting their victims. However, instead of being deceived by ponzi scheme that isn't sure and even more risky, it's better we consider bitcoin investment because time has proven it to be better and reliable.

[Munroe123]

As for me, one of the signs I do see that always make me to know that a platform is a ponzi scheme is if they're saying the more you refer people i.e bringing people in to invest their money, the more money you earn.  And also another sign is when they're releasing a news that their website is under maintenance that they will be back in few days time. So those signs do make me to mark platforms like that as ponzi scheme.

[Sammye3]

Most of the ponzi go carry rewards go go make person wan sell their entire property just to invest. The annoying part be say some persons go even involve their family members and friends with full confidence say e go make them rich. Wetin I feel be say anything wey guarantee short term profit or wey promise person quick riches get higher chances of Ponzi scheme format and one get dey extra careful of that kind adventure.

The rewards are always enticing but we fail to ask ourselves what these ponzi schemers stand to gain from distributing such amount of rewards to potential beneficiaries. Ponzi schemes are mostly beneficial to early birds and the late comers take the fall for the rest. There is always a target for the schemes, and their strategy has always being delaying withdrawal so as to accumulate more registration.

People are easily attracted to new projects, one that everyone is talking about, one that pays and payments are received. But most people still in denial tend to start late and fall the victim for the scams. It's funny how people are aware that it's a ponzi scheme but still invest in it.

[Itz-prisigold]

The rewards are always enticing but we fail to ask ourselves what these ponzi schemers stand to gain from distributing such amount of rewards to potential beneficiaries. Ponzi schemes are mostly beneficial to early birds and the late comers take the fall for the rest. There is always a target for the schemes, and their strategy has always being delaying withdrawal so as to accumulate more registration.

People are easily attracted to new projects, one that everyone is talking about, one that pays and payments are received. But most people still in denial tend to start late and fall the victim for the scams. It's funny how people are aware that it's a ponzi scheme but still invest in it.

The most funny thing about all this is that, some people are fully aware and they strongly suspect that the project is a pure scam and yet they choose to take a chance. I normally hear them say if I invest early I'll be lucky to withdraw my money and get out before the scam will eventually crash. The issue is that no one really knows when that time will be.

You might be there thinking you're still early on it, but you will never be aware not until withdrawals stop, that is when you'll realize that you where actually late and start calling out people that introduce the platform to you. So it's not really lack of awareness that causes people to fall for all these scams, but rather greed and the thought that they will be able to make it out before things will get bad.

[Webutxo]

As for me, one of the signs I do see that always make me to know that a platform is a ponzi scheme is if they're saying the more you refer people i.e bringing people in to invest their money, the more money you earn.  And also another sign is when they're releasing a news that their website is under maintenance that they will be back in few days time. So those signs do make me to mark platforms like that as ponzi scheme.

There is no way anyone would see sign of ponzi schemes and wouldn't see. I think that Nigerians love to capitalize on they can make quick money on ponzi schemes when they see one. Like a ponzi scheme will be launch now the and Nigerians will jump on it for nothing and when you try to caution them, they will tell you that they are trying to do it and withdrawal before it cast. They have this mentality that if they do it within a week and get their capital, they are safe.

I know there is hunger, many people are trying to survive but doing ponzi scheme is the least thing anyone should try. Avoid them if you can and try as much as possible to report them to right authorities. If not that Nigeria is a failed country, all the people that launched this ponzi schemes need to be locked up and investigated but our law enforcement are very bad at doing their job.

[osasshem]

You will hear them saying, you don't need to do anything, register big and your money will work for you. Or you will hear, our products are life changing products will high market demands, not knowing that the price is not what everyone can afford.

The point of them bringing these international bodies or persons in as their founders is to truly attract people into the system just for the claim that there's an international body backing them.

Then are the internet ones, who will give you tiny task to carryout, and require you to upgrade by funding your account in other to have a better adds/survey that pays better.

[Oyoyoma_yu]

I do not know if it is greed, or if our people just ignore all obvious signs of a ponzi. No matter how much ponzi organizers try to disguise and hide that they are not a ponzi, there are some common basic signs that gives them away.
These obvious signs are what I hope we can discuss about. Some of them that  I have noticed are;

1) You always need to bring someone or people.
Because it is a pyramid scheme that they hope to benefit from, there is no way it can thrive without you bringing someone in new.

2) They sometimes associate their scheme to an international person as the founder, or claim it is also done in other countries.
Associating the scheme with an international body of person gives it some level of sophistication I bet,  This is why they always do it this way so that they can attract gullible Nigerians more who always have the thinking that something from an international body is always better than what is present in our country.

3) Always the promise of quick returns.

What other signs have you noticed?

There are many of these ponzi schemes operating in Nigeria, and not because people don't know they are dealing with ponzi schemes but they ignore every sign, and still go ahead to invest in them. One of the reason for indulging in ponzi schemes is promise for high return, this is one of the things that attracts people, they are also telling you to perform a task on the platform before learning your rewards depending on how the platform is designed, another thing that tells you if a an investment platform is ponzi is that, they usually have different payment plans, so that you keep on subscribing to those plans until you loose your money. Ponzi schemes have started long ago, and even though they are running away with people's money, some Nigerians have not learned their lessons.

[Agathamay]

What are they selling?

If they say they want people to invest in agric and it is online, trading (like CBEX), in a way that they are not licensed, you should not believe.

Although about trading, I can not believe them even if they are licensed.

I think what really helped me is that I prefer to invest by myself and not believe in another party's investment. This is the best way to avoid these scammers.

Yes, high yield return is part of the red flag.

The moment I don't have to do any work aside just investing my money and expecting a fixed amount paid to me over a period of time especially when the amount looks too good to be ignored then, my suspicions are always very high because I've been taught that nothing good which is supposed to last will just come with no strings attached.
Most of these people that engage in these Ponzi scheme are alway aware that it's Ponzi but still go into it with the hope of recovering their investments and making some profits which means that, they know what they're going into before getting in but most of them hope to get in with hopes of cheating the system.