POVERTY, GREED, FROM MMM TO CBEX: THE NEVERENDING PONZI SCHEME SEASON IN NIGERIA

Hey everybody, have you heard the big news? CBex has crashed and, in fact, turned out to be a Ponzi scheme!

This is definitely not the first time Nigerians are falling straight into a Ponzi scheme. Though I’m surprised I didn’t hear about this one well before it crashed—or should I say before the “investors” ran away? Either way, before I dive into the long list of Ponzi schemes Nigerians have fallen for, let’s first define what a Ponzi scheme is, shall we?

“A Ponzi scheme is a type of financial fraud where returns are paid to earlier investors using the money contributed by newer investors, rather than from profit earned by the operation of a legitimate business.”

That’s the dictionary definition—very official, very boring. So, I asked ChatGPT to explain it to me like I’m five. And here’s what it came up with:

The Sweet Story of Mr A the Trickster Imagine this:

You have a friend named A who says, "Give me 1 sweet today, and I’ll give you 2 sweets tomorrow!"

You think, “Wow! That’s cool!” So, you give him 1 sweet.

The next day, he gives you 2 sweets—just like he promised. You’re happy!

But what you don’t know is… Tunde didn’t have any sweets of his own. He just took sweets from your other friends, like B and C, to give you yours.

Later, more people give him sweets because they all want double too. Then one day, Mr A thinks: “I’ve collected enough sweets from everybody. I’m not giving anyone anything. I’m gone!”

Then he disappears with everyone’s sweets—and that’s stealing.

Now that we understand the scam, let’s talk history.

Nigeria’s Greatest Ponzi Hits (So Far):

MMM Nigeria (2016–2017): Legendary crash

Ultimate Cycler (2016): Crashed with style

Twinkas (2017): Twinkled, then vanished

Givers Forum: You gave, they for-ran

Loopers Club: Looped people into nothingness

MBA Forex (2020): No MBA, no Forex—just fraud

RackSterli (2021): Racked money, then sterli-gone

CBex (2025): Latest episode of Ponzi Diaries

You would think with this long list, Nigerians would have learned—but unfortunately, they haven’t.

I mean, MMM alone humbled a whole nation. People were crying online: “MMM has crashed and took my 2 million!” “My rent! My school fees! My goat money!”

And what did we do a few months later? We entered another Ponzi. Rinse and repeat. Honestly, at this point, I’m not sure if it’s poverty or premium-grade greed.Honestly, falling for MMM is forgivable—because many, if not most, working-class Nigerians fell for it too.

But falling for another Ponzi scheme just a few months after MMM? Then falling for another and another? I don’t get it—is it poverty or greed?

Now, back to CBex.

CBex (a digital trading platform) paraded itself as a company registered in "Canada" with an office in Nigeria. They even had a fancy website and all that. All you had to do was invest money and get a 100% return in 30 days. The higher your investment, the higher your return.

Put ₦100k, get ₦200k. Easy money, right? Some people actually made money early on. They withdrew small-small, said “This thing dey pay!” Then they got bold, put all their money back—and guess what?

CBex carried their funds, waved goodbye, and ghosted.

So Let’s Ask the Real Question: Poverty or Greed?

According to the IMF, over 75% of Nigerians live on less than $1 a day. So maybe poverty pushed some people into CBex with the hope of affording a decent meal.

But then again, I know someone who made $40,000 from CBex. And what did they do? They invested everything back into it. Omo, is that poverty or just spiritual greed? Whatever it is, one thing is sure: There’s no free money—even in Free Town.

So, next time someone says, “Double your money in 24 hours”— Just smile and say, “Mr A, I know your game?