Nigeria Loses N93.72 Billion to Ponzi Schemes in 2 Years

• Nigerians lost around N93.72 billion to Ponzi schemes and other financial criminal operations between January 2023 and December 2024.
• Scammers have expressed concerns about the need for stricter legislation and greater public awareness to stop the growing nightmare
• Nigerians have suffered significant financial losses due to a variety of Ponzi schemes and related frauds, according to the NDIC director

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Between January 2023 and December 2024, Ponzi schemes and other financial fraud activities cost Nigerians more than N93.72 billion, according to investigation.

This means that over N1,005,170,000,000 has been lost in 25 years, Daily Sun reported.

Concerns about the need for stronger laws and increased public awareness to stop the escalating horror have been raised by scammers and fraudulent schemes that continue to take advantage of weak and gullible people.

Michael Oladele, the Director of the Bank Examination Department at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC), shockingly disclosed in December 2022 the extent of financial losses Nigerians have sustained as a result of various Ponzi schemes and associated scams.

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He revealed that over the last 23 years, fraud has cost the nation an astounding N911.45 billion and that the victims and the economy would undoubtedly suffer greatly as a result of this enormous sum.

Ponzi or pyramid scams are frequently dishonest business models that promise large profits with minimal risk. Instead of focusing on selling real goods or services, its strategy is to recruit new members.

In order to "cash out," participants are typically obliged to acquire new members. Each new recruit pays an initial cost, or "investment," of which a percentage is utilized to reimburse the previous participants.

While some multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes have been accused of functioning similarly to pyramid schemes, Daily Sun reported that these schemes are distinct from MLMs, which often involve the selling of real goods or services.

Nigerian banks lose N42.33 billion in 6 months

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Legit.ng reported that Nigerian banks have reported a whopping N42.33 billion in fraud losses in the first six months of 2024, with increases recorded in multiple channels.

Data from the Financial Institutions Training Centre disclosed in its first and second quarter reports on Fraud and Forgeries that the losses revealed an alarming trend.

Most importantly, fraud in bank branches spiked 31%, hitting N42.2 billion in the second quarter of this year, relative to N133.9 million recorded in the previous quarter.

Source: Legit.ng