SEC-S17W3- "Let's talk about Ponzi scheme".

Hey friend! Good to have you here.

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Man had so many financial needs and it seem life can’t be lived effectively without money hence we seem to try out any available means to make money and sometimes we are tempted to try very quick means and hence we fall pray to scammers who eventually make away with the little investments we’ve made.

Have you ever heard about ponzi schemes?

I’ve heard about ponzi schemes which got its famous name after a man called Charles Ponzi a swindler who became a millionaire after getting people to invest in a business opportunity that never existed in 1920. source

Ponzi schemes operate by getting new investors to invest in a business which most times are non existent and they use the money of the new investors to pay off the old investors after they are promised high returns with little or no risk. This is mostly sustained until the inflow of investors dwindles only to reveal the scam.

Have you been offered to invest in any of these schemes?

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I’ve not only been offered to invest in a Ponzi scheme, the truth is that I’ve invested in many of them in a bid to make quick money only to finally realize that these things are all the same after getting the same results over and over again.

The one that broke the camels back was when I lost over six hundred thousand naira three years ago in a Ponzi scheme. The unfortunate thing about this is that I borrowed the money from one of my mentors after I promised to pay him back in three months with interest.

In my mind I was going to be a millionaire in three months. News flash, I lost all the money after one month of investing and I even brought someone who invested 250,000 naira into the same business. Till date am not yet a millionaire and am still owning plenty money to pay. So sad.

Since then I’ve learnt my lessons and I look at any business opportunity before investing. People have brought some idea to me and asked me to invest in them and I quickly recognized them cos I’ve been there after my hard knock. I will clearly tell them to go and collect their money that it’s going to crash.

Some listen while some don’t and just like I said. It always crashes after some time and am always glad I never got to invest in such schemes again. I learnt my lessons the hard way. Ponzi schemes are traps.

Do you know how to detect Ponzi schemes?

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Yes because I’ve been a victim over and over again. Some of the ways to detect them includes;

• They promise high returns on investment with little or no risk.

• They would ask you to always invite someone to the business and promise you a percentage of return to keep the scheme flowing.

• They would tell you that you don’t have to sell the products. You practically don’t have to do anything to get returns.

• Some of these schemes are not registered with SEC (security and Exchange commission)

• There is difficult in withdrawing your earnings.

• Market conditions does not affect the flow of the returns they promise.

These are some of the ways to know you are about to enter a Ponzi scheme. When you see these red flags, run.

Do you think Steemit is a ponzi scheme?

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Nope, steemit it not a Ponzi scheme. From what I describe above, you can visibly see that there’s no relationship with steemit and all these red flags.

Here we have a genuine platform where you can create quality contents and earn rewards which you can have access to any time. It’s not a get rich quick scheme and you must work hard and be consistent.

In conclusion, I hope this post has been an eye opener to you to know the kind of investment to make and to avoid Ponzi schemes.

Thank you for coming down this lane with me. What’s your take on the points I mentioned above? I invite @ngozi996, @ruthjoe and @jovita30 to get involved and share their opinions on Ponzi scheme.