How MMM Operators Carted Away N12Bn From Nigeria

This was according to the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), which made this known in its latest Annual Report.

Nigerians were said to have invested about N28.7 billion and lost the earlier said amount.

The NeFF relied on information from funds transferred through the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to come up with its report.

A total of 14 Nigerian banks were said be enrolled in the NIBSS industry Anti-fraud System, HEINDALL, as at the transaction period.

Th report revealed that the total money lost to the fraudsters through the ponzi scheme in 2015 totalled N2.256 billion.

Whereas the recorded cases of fraud jumped from 10,743 to 19,531 in that year. 

“It is quite unfortunate that despite several awareness and tips about BVN watchlist, some institutions still refuse to send BVNs of their customers who have been involved in fraudulent acts for watch-list, thereby leaving these fraudsters free in our ecosystem and subsequebntly perpetrating more fraud .

“Out of the 1, 020 unique individuals who were beneficiaries of fraudulent transactions in 2016 across listed channels, only 217 BVNs were sent to the NIBBS (Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System) for watch-listing.

“If we do not cut off these unscrupulous elements from the financial ecosystem, they will continue to migrate from one institution to another wreaking more havoc,” the report indicated.

THE WHISTLER recalls that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had sternly warned Nigerians against participating in the scheme.

“Given that these instruments and the persons, companies or entities that promote them have neither been authorized, nor any guidelines/regulations developed for them by any of the regulatory authorities in Nigeria, there is no protection available to users or investors in these virtual currencies from financial losses if the virtual currencies fail or the companies promoting them go out of business.

“The public and consumers of financial services are further advised that before making any investment or entering into any financial services transaction they should ascertain that the entity with whom the investment or transaction is being made is authorized by the commission or other financial services regulatory authority as applicable to provide such services,” the commission had said in 2016.