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A human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a new Ponzi scheme called Loom, which promises a return of N13, 000 for every N1, 000 ‘investment’ and N104, 000 for N13, 000 within 48 hours.
The scheme, which was first reported in the United Kingdom, followed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s description of the scheme as a scam after it had gone viral in Australia, commenced in Nigeria recently.
In the petition addressed to the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, the activist noted the processes involved in the scheme.
“The first step of the process is to be invited to join a WhatsApp group chat, usually by a friend or relative. Then you are asked to ‘invest’ N1, 000, N2, 000 or N13, 000 with a promise that you will make eight times the amount back once you recruit new entrants.
“After you had paid in the money, you are asked to invite at least one person to join the system.
There are four levels in Loom Nigeria – Purple, Blue, Orange and Red.
“Each time eight people join the loom, the person in the centre (Red) will get the target amount and leave the group. The loom will then split into two groups,” he stated.
Unlike MMM, where there is a website and its founder, Sergey Mavrodi, is well known, the promoters of Loom are elusive, while the pyramid scheme operates via closed groups mainly on Facebook and Whatsapp.
The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) reported that three million Nigerians lost N18 billion to Mavrodi Mundial Movement (MMM) when the scheme was frozen in 2017.
Adeyanju asked the EFCC to swing into action and nip this fraudulent scheme in the bud before Nigerians get deeply involved.
“I am equally appealing to the commission to create an awareness campaign to sensitise Nigerians on the risks involved in participating in such fraudulent schemes.
“The EFCC must ensure that all perpetrators and originators of this scheme are arrested and prosecuted. If we don’t rid our society of this dangerous scheme, it is capable of driving Nigerians into depression as a result of a likely loss of investment.