A scam project recently robbed Nigerians of millions amid the Covid-19 pandemic that shut down the country’s economy and forced millions out of work. As economic realities become dire, people become desperate and susceptible to fraud. This article shows you how to stay safe and winning.
Cryptocurrency is digital money. That means there’s no physical coin or bill — it’s all online. You can transfer cryptocurrencies to someone online without a go-between, like a bank. Bitcoin and Ether are well-known cryptocurrencies, but new cryptocurrencies continue to be created.
People might use cryptocurrencies for quick payments and to avoid transaction fees. Some might get cryptocurrencies as an investment, hoping the value goes up. You can buy cryptocurrency with a credit card or, in some cases, get it through a process called “mining.” Cryptocurrency is stored in a digital wallet, either online, on your computer, or other hardware.
But today, a lot of scam projects spring up from nowhere and tag themselves as Crypto Projects, one of them recently is the ETHEREUM MILLION MONEY which is at the brink of dying, taking with it millions from Nigerians.
If you have heard of the million money-smart contract MLM business known as ETHEREUM MILLION then it is a scam that has mercilessly dealt with Nigerians in the past few months. Million money as said is a DAPPS (Decentralized Applications) matrix system that is deployed to the Ethereum Blockchain network using smart contracts.
Unlike Ethereum which was created as a decentralized blockchain, that has a product, this EMM has no product but is just a pyramid system that just like MMM that robs Peter to pay Paul.
According to its founders, you come in and pay in ETH, sit down, take a bottle of beer and wait for your turn to get paid with no actual product backing it up. It’s the typical long-winding nonsense of upline and downline.
First, you are asked to download million-money’s recommended wallet where you’ll deposit $5 in ETH in the first stage. This amount is sent to your immediate upline (whoever referred you).
To keep ascending in the scheme, you are required to get 2 referrals who in turn will get 2 each and on and on it goes. To get to the top of your pyramid you must have recruited 64 persons (downlines) directly or indirectly who pays you.
Also, you are expected to pay increasing amounts of ETH to your uplines to move from one level of the pyramid to another otherwise money from your downlines will not be allocated to you. How is this any form of innovation or how does this concern the main work the actual creator Vitalik Buterin came up with?
Experts in the Crypto community like Gaius Chibueze, CEO of Tatcoin predicted the death of Ethereum Million Money last month and challenged the founders to a debate.
“As the Biggest Bitcoin Trader in Africa, I am out to fight all Ponzi Schemes using Bitcoin or Ethereum as a transactional currency,” said Chibueze, who is also a Crypto trader with recognition Africa.
Cryptocurrencies are not “get rich quick scheme” that you will put 4000 Naira today and get 100 Million naira the next Month.
There is never fixed Profit or earnings in Cryptocurrencies.
For instance, Bitcoin went from > 8k$ on the 15th of March to 3500$. Anyone telling you to put 1 Naira to get 2 Naira is a thief. Don’t listen to them else you’ll lose your money.
Read more here: Popular Bitcoin Trader in Africa Challenges Promoters of Ethereum Million Money to a Debate
This is to tell you that, a lot of Nigerians do not have information about Crypto Currency yet and still sees it as a get rich scheme.
MILLIONS GONE, TWITTER USERS CRY OUT
Billions of dollars have been lost from the ignorance of people who are new to the cryptocurrency market to crypto scammers like Ethereum Million Money.
It is expected of every discerning investor to make thorough inquiries or seeking the services of professionals before taking certain investment decisions. In most cases, several Nigerians do not care about these guidelines and they usually get their fingers burnt.
Today, Millions of Naira have gone into thin air, twitter users are asking for their money back from the mysterious creators of the scheme. In just a month over 300,000 users lost more than 800 Ethereums, that is up to 72,000,000 in NGN .
And in a country like Nigeria, most people do not want to go through the stress of learning about cryptocurrency anymore but want to wake up tomorrow morning to become multi-millionaires just like the Boom of 2017 without understanding what a project is, what is ICO or IEO and anything about token offerings.
This is why scammers will always excel in Countries like Nigeria because people do not research enough about Cryptocurrency.
A few weeks ago, Chibueze stated several reasons MLM was not going to last, calling it a scam and today we are not hearing of it. In a recent chat with him, he also mentioned that there is a new one called Forsage today and advised Nigerians to desist from it. People have been scammed and this is why he has advised that people stay away from it, as many newbies started talking about it without no knowledge whatsoever about Ethereum.
He has also advised Nigerians to desist from Ponzi Schemes and get real knowledge about Crypto Currencies. (The CEO achieved an incredible milestone recently as Tatcoin, surpassed 90% in token sales offering.)
We also spoke to some people that invested in the Ethereum Million Money that is yet to receive any Ethereum till today.
An example is Chidera, a banker who said that he made his deposit of 0.3 ETH which in Naira is N27,414 and even went on to refer 2 people that made the same deposits but has not gotten any money from the scheme today neither the two people he referred to the scheme which they have requested he pays back their money for referring them to the scheme.
History is ruthless to people who never learn from their mistakes. There are countless examples of pyramid schemes (past and present) and they all have one thing in common — their crash is inevitable. If you must invest your hard-earned money (even if you earned it the easy way) invest in a sustainable and you must first get knowledge about it before making any form of investment in it.
A major challenge remains the police, and other enforcement agencies know little about cryptocurrencies, so it becomes an issue of a bat catching a dragonfly in daylight.
At the end of the day, only the founders of this scheme get to laugh to the bank after raking in millions of dollars from people’s sweat. As Bitcoin Chief said, desist from Ponzi Schemes like ETHEREUM MILLION MONEY.
HERE’S A GUIDE TO SAFE INVESTING
1. Do not invest in projects that you have not made adequate research on yet.
2. Understand cryptocurrency and Blockchain. If you do, you will see that it is very differently from Multi-level Marketing.
3. Crypto is something you buy and wait patiently for it to appreciate in value. Like traditional stocks, you buy and wait patiently for it to rise and also use the token for exchange and to buy products.
4. Ensure you research the company to and read testimonials about them.
