Nigerians Count  Loses As CBEX Ponzi Scheme Crashes

By Akinwale Kasali

Investors in the CBEX Ponzi Scheme are counting their loses. The Scheme has crashed, leading to outcry by a large number of Nigerians who invested in the Scheme.

It crashed on Monday, carting away over N1 Trillion owned by investors.

Nigerians who were part of the scheme, before it crashed on Monday, built offices across the country with one in Lagos which was launched only last week.

The offices, as reported, were the meeting points of top investors on the platform who have well over $10,000 and several downlines.

These were the set of people expressing confidence in the platform, inviting people to join while preaching that it’s a scheme that would take them out of poverty.

In expression of frustration, residents of Ibadan, Oyo State stormed the office of the scheme and carted some appliances including Televisions, Air conditioners, furniture, to mention but a few.

Just like a typical ponzi scheme, to register at CBEX, one would need to pay a minimum of $100 and download the scheme’s application.

The application was not hosted on any known platforms like google play store or apple store but a self hosted website that show several signs of insecurity.

After the app has been downloaded, one would also need to download Bybit, an exchange platform where you received your money and exchange it for your local currency.

After payment has been made, all you need to do when you wake up everyday is to turn on your ‘hosting’. This, according to the platform, is to enable the AI trade for you using two signals daily. People were also encouraged to deposit at least $300 to get good returns of about $5 daily, while it increases as your balance grows. When it gets to $400, you will start receiving $7 daily and when it gets to about $500, you will start receiving $10 daily.

Although, as typical of a ponzi scheme, those who started early made over 100% of their investments at different times, but several people lost money because they had not gotten to the stage of withdrawal, which is always 35 or 40 days after your deposit.

Many Nigerians invested in this business, smiling to the Bank, just as the era of the crashed MMM Ponzi Scheme.

Prior to the crash that has made several Nigerians indebted with many falling into depression, on April 5, CBEX announced across its telegram platforms that there will be free bonus for investors between 9th of April to 14th of April. Many were more concerned about the bonuses but little did they know that withdrawals would be paused. However, after getting bonuses as high as $100, attempts to withdraw was paused on April 9 with a promise that it would be opened on April 15.

Until noon of April 14, the platform assured investors that withdrawal would be made available in the next few hours, till investors suddenly discovered that all their earnings had disappeared, indicating the ultimate crash of CBEX.

The platform, as typical of a ponzi scheme, have locked its telegram platforms and explained that there was a hack attempt that brought a surge in the trading system, making the AI to trade with all investors’ funds, leading to a loss.

However, the platform further encouraged investors to deposit $100 for those that have less than $1,000, and $200 for those that have more than $1,000 to reclaim their funds.