Crypto schemes, and the ones wearing a business suit
Investment offers that promise a fixed return, pay you to recruit, or both. How to recognise a Ponzi scheme whatever it is called.
The pitch arrives through someone you know, which is the whole design: a friend, a church group, a WhatsApp group of colleagues. They are not lying to you. They were recruited the same way and have usually been paid once, early, which is why they believe it.
The signs, in order of how reliable they are
- A guaranteed or fixed return. No real investment can promise one. "10% a month" is not an ambitious fund, it is arithmetic that only works while new money arrives.
- You are paid for recruiting. If your earnings depend on who you bring in rather than on anything being sold, the people below you are the product.
- Pressure to reinvest rather than withdraw. A scheme that makes withdrawal awkward, slow or penalised is managing its cash, not your returns.
- Vague about where the money comes from. "Arbitrage", "AI trading bot", "mining" with no detail that can be checked.
- A deadline. The offer closes Friday, the price goes up next week, only twenty places left.
- Testimonials and screenshots as the main evidence. Both are free to produce.
Before putting money in anything
- Ask what happens if nobody new joins. If the answer is that returns stop, it is a Ponzi scheme regardless of what it sells.
- Try to withdraw a small amount early. Difficulty is the signal.
- Check whether the company is registered to take deposits in your country. In Cameroon, COBAC and the Ministry of Finance publish warnings about unlicensed schemes.
- Search the name with the words scam, arnaque and fraude. Then search it again in a month; these collapse fast.
- Never borrow to invest, and never invest money you need.