It’s hard to ignore the growing list of Nigerians scammed by Ponzi schemes. And yet, even with the heartbreak, the public outrage, and government warnings, thousands still took a gamble on CBEX—a digital trading platform now accused of swindling investors of billions.
One would think the MMM saga of 2016 was a turning point. Apparently not.
I’ve watched these stories back-to-back with a familiar sense of déjà vu. The emotional videos. The looted offices. The TikTok tears. And at the centre of it all—deceitful promises of wealth. CBEX promised to double your money in weeks. People believed it. Why?
The answer can be found somewhere between desperation and blind hope. Nigeria’s economy has tightened its hold on many, especially young people.
Jobs are scarce, inflation is suffocating, and honest income feels too slow to catch up with daily needs. So, when a platform like CBEX shows up with smooth talk and fast returns, it starts to look less like a scam and more like a saviour.
But it never is.
Take Pretty Nikky Babe, for instance—a TikTok user who posted a tearful video with the caption: “CBEX don carry my savings.” Her pain is raw, and unfortunately, it’s shared by many people.
One woman, Bola, stood outside the ransacked CBEX office in Ibadan weeping, not just for herself but for the friends whose money she collected and invested—over $1,000 in total. “Me 200 dollars, but I collected all my friends’ money… all the money 1,000 dollars,” she sobbed. That’s more than a financial loss, as it involves communal shame.
The emotional fallout was inevitable. On Monday, a mob descended on CBEX’s office in Oke Ado, Ibadan. They didn’t come with petitions or placards. They came for revenge. They carried off furniture, solar panels, anything they could find. The videos went viral. So did the anger.
But this isn’t new.
Dr Penking wrote on X: “Nigerians never Learn. This is the list of Ponzi schemes that have made away with Nigerians’ hard-earned money yet they still fall mugu…” And the list is long. From MMM Nigeria to Ultimate Cycler, Get Help Worldwide to Baraza, and now CBEX—more than 40 names have fleeced Nigerians over the last decade.
So why do people keep falling?
Greed? Maybe. But that’s not the full story. It’s also about the hopelessness many feel. The belief that the system doesn’t work, that no one is coming to help, and that hustling—any kind of hustling—is better than staying broke.
Al’ameen wrote: “You are not an investor when you put your money in CBEX or any ponzi scheme. You are just a greedy gambler that’s desperate to make money out of anything.”
Still, it’s not always greed. Sometimes, it’s misinformation. Sometimes, it’s peer pressure. Sometimes, it’s just plain desperation. A young man told BBC Pidgin he lost ₦450,000—money he was about to withdraw until a friend told him to be patient. Then CBEX crashed. Another lost $16,000. One victim, Oguonu Nchedo Esther, wrote online: “My kids are just crying as if someone died… all the hopes I gave them are just scattered… we are back to zero.”
CBEX admins reportedly moved over $822 million into a private Ethereum wallet. According to @Crypto4bailout on X, “CBEX Admin Stole $913,000,000 from Gullible Users.” The scale of theft is unimaginable. And the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had earlier flagged the platform as unregistered only adds salt to injury.
But, why do SEC warnings fall on deaf ears?
Because many Nigerians don’t trust institutions anymore. The same government that issues these warnings is seen as corrupt and uncaring. So people rely on word-of-mouth, Telegram groups, and social media influencers—many of whom hype these platforms for a cut.
The CBEX crash is not the end of Ponzi schemes in Nigeria. Sadly, it’s just another chapter. People are angry now, but give it time, and another ‘opportunity’ will rise—another promise, another platform, another loss.
In the end, we can’t keep blaming ignorance. There are too many examples, too many warnings. At some point, we have to admit we have a problem with easy money.
We want to skip the queue. We want wealth without the wait. But that shortcut almost always ends in regret.
And until we change that mindset, CBEX won’t be the last.
