Nigeria: Investment in Bitcoin, high risk prone to fraud

By Soni Daniel

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EEFC) has warned Nigerians of investing in Bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency involves a high risk and susceptible to fraud, regardless of its unregulated nature. In the statement, the commission also rang the bell over the rate at which Nigerians pool money into investments that promise high returns with little or no risks to the investors.

In the statement there was also a mention of scams that have continued to take place despite the enforcement of strict measures and public enlightenment interventions by the commission and other stakeholders.

The commission also stated about the condition of the citizens that “Many of them have lost and are still losing their hard-earned money to fraud schemes, fraudsters, forex trading, no returns and last Bitcoin trading which is compounding the nation’s economic woes.

“Every scheme has risk involved in it, and if it is taken into account by some of the people that do investment decisions, the Commission wishes to warn the general public against taking underestimated or unevaluated risk in desperation to earn a windfall. Investment in Bitcoin, as an example , may be a high risk activity because the terrain is essentially unregulated, and prone to fraud.

“The EFCC also stated that, they will still investigate and prosecute persons and mitigate risks complicit in fraudulent investment schemes, it’s obligatory the investing public to be circumspect in their investment decisions. Also if any investment is too safe to be declared to be true should be concerned as a red flag.”

Data source: Vanguard and EEFC