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At a time where the country is faced with a worse economic situation, a recession, many Nigerians are seeking the easy way out to making a head out for themselves and their families. Both the public and private institution are embarking on any profitable investments that will fortify them in this period of recession.
Today, millions of Nigerians have embraced the different ponzi schemes pitching its tent in our society as their own means of investment that will liberate them out of this economic recession staring at them on the face daily. However, it can be observed that many of the participants who have embraced these ponzi schemes know little or nothing about these schemes they are into.
A ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment or a scam which promises high returns with little risk to its investors.
There are several of such schemes making wave in the country today; they include MMM, NNN, iCharity, Ultimate Cycler, Givers Forum, to mention only a few.
Ponzi scheme was originated by Charles Ponzi in 1919, and it relied on a constant flow of investments from new investors to continue to provide returns to older investors however the truth is that it gets to a point when there isn’t enough money to go around, and the scheme eventual falls apart.
It is interesting to know that all ponzi schemes have the similar characteristics which include; a promise of high returns with little risk, structured to exhibit a consistent flow of returns regardless of market conditions, they are never registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), strategies are secret and too complex, etc.
However, there are other forms of investments like real estate, stock exchange, forex and many others that are legal and reliable. Real investments are said to be investments on fixed assets, while financial investments are investments on bonds and shares are also registered with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria.
It is pertinent to educate the society about the dangers of ponzi schemes and how it affects the lives of those who partake in it. A ponzi scheme no matter how good it looks will one day fall apart and millions of its participants will suffer great loss.
This is evident in the case of the most widely embraced ponzi scheme in Nigeria called the Mavrodi Mondial Movement popularly known as MMM Nigeria which recently freezed the accounts of all participants from December 12th last week Tuesday with promise to reopen on January 14, leaving many of its participants into great pain as many had planned to utilize the money during the holidays.
Despite the efforts of the government on several occasions through all available means to warn Nigerians against this fraudulent scheme, investors who are said to be loyal participants stock to this ponzi scheme which has been in the country for more than a year.
Many of the participants are young people who have found the platform as an easy way to make money but they would have themselves to blame for not adhering to the forewarnings by the government if MMM fails to unfreeze their accounts on January 14th.
Several millions of naira has been invested in this scheme as well as several others but Nigerians are advised to invest in real estate or other financial investments like bonds, shares and forex which are more secure forms of investment.
