Participants of the famous Ponzi scheme/scam in Nigeria, Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox (MMM) are going through panic and confusion following the one-month freezing notice made by the scheme on the accounts of Nigerians.
Millions of Nigerians, eager to make quick money selling nothing and investing in nothing, are believed to have joined the scam in recent months as recession continued to bite, ignoring warnings by many experts that money does not fall from the sky.
It’s a famous scam started in Russia where someone gives money to someone in need and gets huge interest rates within days or a month.
For instance, one can give N50, 000 to someone on November 30. The next month, one can gain almost N20,000 as profit. No one loses, everyone wins. No one sells anything, no one buys anything.
Those managing the scheme do not invest in anything. They tell participants that the system sustains itself.
Many had banked that they would make a lot of money during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, but with the freeze, those hopes have vanished and are now completely dashed.
The announcement to take a one month break was made known through a circular sent out to all users on Monday.
The circular which stated that ‘Confirmed Mavros’ would be frozen for a month urged all participants to be calm, saying it was to help prevent any problems during the New Year season.
Many Nigerians had brought in friends and family members and viewed those who refused to participate as ignorant and uninformed. They boasted that what happened in other countries where the system collapsed cannot happen in Nigeria as more people were joining.
They were partially right. The scam sustains itself when the number of people joining is more than those leaving or when those in need of money are fewer than those giving out money.
The system often collapses when those who need money far exceed those who are ready to give assistance. When panic sets in, and many people suddenly leave, the scam is often unveiled.
The notice to participants read:
“Dear members!
As usual, in the New Year season the System is experiencing heavy workload. Moreover, it has to deal with the constant frenzy provoked by the authorities in the mass media. The things are still going well; the participants feel calm; everyone gets paid – as you can see, there haven’t been any payment delays or other problems yet – but!.. it is better to avoid taking risk.) (Moreover, there are almost three weeks left to the New Year.)
Hence, on the basis of the above mentioned, from now on all confirmed Mavro will be frozen for a month.
The reason for this measure is evident. We need to prevent any problems during the New Year season, and then, when everything calms down, this measure will be cancelled. (Which we will definitely do).”
Online newspaper PMNEWS, commenting on the incident said; “With the current freezing message from MMM, the fear is that it could tour the line of the crashed Ultimate Cycler. This tends to further give grounds to another school of thought who have it that all ponzi schemes do not last more than one year”.