Thousands of Nigerians were thrown into tears yesterday following the realization that the funds they invested in CBEX, a digital asset trading platform, reportedly amounting to N1.3trillion, was nowhere to be found.
The digital trading platform which boasted of giving investors 100 per cent Return On Investment in 30 days crashed on Monday, after the money in their investors’ wallets vanished.
Plateau reports that there were signs that the platform had crashed since Friday, when it postponed investors’ withdrawals.
But CBEX operators later emerged and gave investors the lifeline of $2,000 for $200 verification and $1,000 for $100 verification with an assurance that withdrawal would resume on Monday (April 14, 2025).
However, their hopes were dashed when their savings were wiped out from the investors’ account.
This is the latest scheme in a series that Nigerians would fall victims to in the last 10 years, with people desirous of doubling their savings losing billions of naira despite repeated warnings from the regulatory authorities against investing in Ponzi schemes.
From MMM Nigeria, Get Help Worldwide, Crowd Rising, Donation Hub, Lion’s Share, 6Dollars Investment and now to CBEX, investment in Ponzi schemes have ended in tears and lamentations.
After investors’ wallets vanished, many Nigerians cried uncontrollably, lamenting their losses. The blogosphere (social media space) has been awash with tales of woes since Monday, with lamentation peaking on Tuesday.
‘I have lost my house rent’
A victim, Oni Tolulope, who spoke with our correspondent, lamented how she invested her house rent in the project, saying she is on the verge of being homeless.
She said, “I heard it’s been operating for two years…my friend introduced me to it last year, but I was unwilling.
“Fast forward to this February, I thought about the many things I had to do with little or no money and since CBEX was still active and running, I felt I should invest my little savings and watch it grow to cover my expenses (e.g rent). It did grow, and just when I hit my target prepared to withdraw, my entire plan crashed with CBEX wiping my balance out with one trading signal. Now, I am back to zero funds.”
‘I almost invested my wedding funds’
A young man who just wedded told Daily Trust that he almost invested his wedding funds in the platform in December.
“It started like this; last year December was my wedding but approaching December, at some point, I was broke and money wasn’t coming. So I decided to invest what I had saved up for the wedding in CBEX.
“This was after much pressure or should I say persuasion from a brother who invested a lot of money. I made up my mind that I was going to give it a try, but thank God I didn’t.
“The temptation to do CBEX was so much on me because many who did it around me were cashing out big,” he told Daily Trust.
Many Nigerians who lost their money also took to social media to lament their losses.
An X user @naijabanker90 said, “CBEX wiped out my dad’s retirement savings. Man was just looking for a small investment to grow his pension. This country will humble you.”
@ChizzyCoded also said that “Used CBEx for three months. Everything seemed legit till one morning I woke up and couldn’t access my dashboard. Their support went ghost”
@DrealBlaq who lost N150,000 said, “My guy warned me about CBEx, but greed didn’t let me hear a word. Lost150k. Lesson learnt the hard way”.
@sheddycoal: “My mom did this without telling me; investing 300 dollars …now she has not been herself and my heart is very heavy”.
On Facebook, Sandra M. Okoro posted that, “My uncle’s friend introduced him to CBEX. He put in N500,000 hoping for monthly returns. Three months later, nothing. The person who introduced him stopped picking calls”.
Felix Adebayo said, “CBEx looked so promising at first. I even encouraged my church group to try it. Now I feel guilty because most of us didn’t get our capital back.”
On Instagram, @iam_linda_gold posted that, “If you’re still putting money in CBEX, just know you’re on your own. My colleague cried at work after she realised she was scammed.”
@mrlagosvibes said “CBEx sweet-talked all of us with fake testimonials. My cousin’s business almost collapsed after investing her working capital.”