Nigerians on social media are very angry because they lost money on a digital trading website called CBEX.
People who put money into CBEX said they could not take their money out for a few days because withdrawals were stopped. After withdrawals were stopped, investors saw that their accounts showed zero money.
Reports say that CBEX took over 1.3 trillion naira from investors’ accounts.
Why People Invested
CBEX promised investors they would double their money (get 100% profit) in just one month. This is why many people quickly put their money into it.
Other Nigerians on social media say that anyone who invested in something like this is greedy. They wonder why Nigerians keep falling for these kinds of scams after other ones, like MMM and similar schemes, also failed in the past.
Before CBEX stopped working, people who had already invested were sharing messages about it on social media and WhatsApp to get other people to join too.
‘I lost 450,000 naira’ – investor
One investor, called Ola, told BBC News Pidgin that he invested in CBEX because he is a student and needed a place to put his money.
He said he didn’t want to keep cash with him so he wouldn’t spend it.
Ola said he invested 450,000 naira. After he made some profit, the friend who told him about CBEX told him to wait longer and not take the money out yet.
“I was ready to take out all my money last week, but the same friend told me to be patient until yesterday when it all collapsed,” he said.
Another investor, who did not want to give their name, said they are very sad because of the collapse.
The investor said they lost $2,000 (two thousand US dollars) on the trading site. They added that they are too upset to talk about what happened.
Angry Young People in Ibadan Break Into and Steal from CBEX Office
A group of angry young people broke into the CBEX office in the Oke Ado area of Ibadan (the capital city of Oyo State). They stole things after the trading site stopped working.
In a video shared on social media, the young people carried away items like air conditioners, fans, and other valuable things.
The angry young people also broke the windows of the CBEX office.
Can Nigerians Get Their Money Back? (Expert’s View)
- Mr. Owolabi believes the money is truly gone.
- He thinks the only way anyone might get some money back is if investors actually pay those “verification” fees. CBEX might use that new money to pay off a few people, but most would still lose everything. (This clarifies the purpose of the strange fee offer).
This message is for anyone who has fallen victim to crypto investment scams. There are many false recommendations out there, so it’s important to be vigilant. I personally lost $50,000 in Bitcoin to an investment scam and was scammed again while trying to recover my funds.