Summary
The recent crash of CBEX, a fraudulent investment platform, has left thousands of Nigerians devastated and financially ruined. Despite past warnings and high-profile scams like MMM, platforms like CBEX continue to thrive on false promises of high returns with little to no risk. This article explores how and why Ponzi schemes keep succeeding in Nigeria, emphasising the urgent need for financial literacy, regulation, and awareness. As history repeats itself, the lesson remains: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If you are fairly active on social media, then you must have seen news about a new Ponzi scheme called CBEX that just crashed. This scheme, which promised to multiply people’s money twofold, has now left hundreds of thousands of Nigerians (if not millions) in distress as their money has vanished into “thin air.”
In front of what used to be the office space in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, TVC News interviewed a distraught and crestfallen middle-aged woman called Bolarinwa on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025.
“I invested 200 dollars personally in CBEX, but I also collected money from my friends as well, the total is 1000 dollars. I went to Libya to work —hard work, see my hands. I came back; my neighbour told me to put my money in it.
“I didn’t want to, but he made money from it, and I saw it with my own two eyes, so I decided to invest as well. He told me my money would be multiplied twice, so I decided to add my 200 dollars, and my friends who were interested, too. I collected from them, all making $1000,” she told TVC News.
What is CBEX?
CBEX is an alleged digital trading asset platform that promised investors a 100% return on their investment after 30 days. For example, if you invest N2,000 today, they will return your N2,000 and another N2,000 naira in 30 days, making N4,000. CBEX came into business claiming that it was registered in Canada as an official crypto trading exchange. However, SaharaReporters has checked and confirmed on Canadian business registry platforms that this claim made by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Yahaya Ibrahim, is false.
According to Investopedia, “a Ponzi scheme is an investment scam that pays early investors with money taken from later investors to create an illusion of big profits. A Ponzi scheme promises a high rate of return with little risk to the investor.”
Ponzi schemes are not new to Nigerians. The most popular Ponzi scheme that shook Nigerians even more than CBEX is doing is the MMM scheme from 2015 to 2016, in which the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) reported losses of 18 billion naira, while the CBN pegged it at 12 billion naira as at then.
Between now and then, a couple of Ponzi schemes have come and gone including Racksterli, MBA Forex among others. According to a report by Enact Africa in 2024, Ponzi schemes have defrauded Nigerians of over US$1 billion (500 billion naira) in the past decade.
As with all Ponzi schemes, the last to invest is a fool. There has been proof, just like Bolarinwa said, that early investors did, in fact, make x2 of their money back. After all, how will the company build their credibility without having proof that some people have successfully gotten their money back in the two-fold that was promised?
To get their money from the platform, all users had to do was lock their funds on the platform, after which they’ll be able to withdraw double the amount after 30 days. Although simple, the platform had many red flags including claiming ties to a Canadian company and not being registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Director of SEC, Emomotimi Agana, even went as far as warning Nigerians in a virtual meeting on Monday, Apr. 14, 2025.
“Very recently, there has been a post that has gone around a particular platform and the activities of this platform are risky. In fact, I was tagged in one of those messages. I want to state it very clearly. If it is not registered, it is illegal,” he was reported to have said without mentioning the name of the platform.
However, there was still proof of early investors getting rewards, so many people still invested in it. The problem started on Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2025, when users noted that their accounts were being wiped and they were being asked to pay an additional fee of $200 to withdraw their money. Fast-forward to this week, and it has been reported that about N1.3 trillion has been pooled from about 300,000 users, with the majority of them being Nigerians.
Enraged by the fraudulent activity carried out by the “exchange,” angry individuals looted the Ibadan branch office of CBEX located in Oke-Ado on Monday evening, taking furniture, electronics, and anything else that could be found.
Unfortunately, the government will not be able to do anything about it as the platform was not registered but people voluntarily invested in it. This incident has left many Nigerians in tears all over social media as they revealed huge amounts invested in the platform, especially after it was revealed that the admin of the platform has moved $822 million (Over 1 trillion Naira) into a private ETH wallet on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025.
Ponzi schemes will always come and go. It remains important to educate Nigerians on financial literacy and being able to sight clear red flags in Ponzi schemes that promise heaven and earth with no hassle. Remember that if it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is too good to be true.
