Another Ponzi Scheme ‘Runs Away’ With Nigerians’ Savings, Investments

By Sabiu Abdullahi

Nigerians who put their money into an online platform known as PXES have been left counting their losses after the platform stopped paying returns and became inaccessible, The Punch newspaper reports.

The development has sparked anger among participants who invested amounts ranging from tens of thousands of naira to millions of naira. Some frustrated investors reportedly stormed PXES offices in Adamawa and Kogi states, where they removed office furniture and other items.

The platform reportedly stopped paying participants in early September, leaving several investors unable to withdraw their funds or establish contact with its operators.

PXES had attracted participants with claims of substantial returns. Reports indicated that some packages promised returns of between 25 per cent and 50 per cent, while certain packages reportedly offered as much as 120 per cent.

The reported returns could not be independently verified.

Investors Storm Offices In Adamawa, Kogi

In Adamawa and Kogi states, some investors reportedly visited PXES offices after attempts to withdraw their money failed.

Videos shared online showed people removing chairs, tables and other items from a PXES office in Yola. Similar scenes were reported at the company’s office in Kabba.

One video showed a man, who reportedly invested about N209,000, crying over his inability to recover his money.

The Kabba manager had reportedly sent a message to investors after the payment difficulties began, assuring them that the management would compensate them for their patience.

However, the office was allegedly shut three days after the message was sent. Investors were subsequently left without clear information about the operators or the whereabouts of their funds.

‘They Showed Me Evidence’

One of the investors, Bunmi Awodipe, said she entered the scheme after three friends showed her evidence that they were receiving returns.

Awodipe said she invested N200,000 and initially received N7,000 weekly.

“They told me they invested money in PXES and were receiving their payments. They showed me evidence, so I decided to invest N200,000 and was receiving N7,000 every week. They only paid me for three weeks.

“When I went to their office last week, I didn’t see anyone. The place was locked and there was nothing in the office. Everything was removed,” Awodipe said.

Another participant, Deji Mulero, said he was introduced to PXES by one of his customers.

“It’s one of my customers who introduced this thing to me on September 4. I registered with N65,000 and it crashed the same Friday. That was how I lost my money,” he said.

Another investor who identified himself as Wale said he had accumulated almost N600,000 on his account before the platform stopped operating.

“Been there for some months. Registered with 207k, now on first stage supervisor. Got close to 600k already on that account. My friend in Abuja introduced the scheme to me,” Wale said.

For 68-year-old Jumoke Talabi, the money was intended to support her granddaughter’s education and household expenses.

Talabi said she invested N64,800 after seeing other participants receive payments. She said the platform had previously paid her N70,000, which encouraged her to increase her investment.

She expected another payment when the next withdrawal date arrived.

“I was meant to collect N18,000 before school resumes, and I thought that I would finish collecting all my profit. But so far, I have not collected any money.

“When they said we should withdraw on Friday, I was dancing. I told my brother that the money did not enter my account, but I was told it would hit my account in the evening. I was looking forward to it. They didn’t even pay me my N64,000. One of my friends doesn’t know what to do or where to go. She has been crying,” she recalled.

Explaining why she invested despite the risks, Talabi said, “It’s poverty that made me do it. If not poverty, I would not, because the money is meant for school fees. I thought that maybe, I would see some to buy rice and eat.”

Shola Adeshina, whose wife also invested in PXES, said the platform became attractive because of claims that small investments could generate substantial returns.

He said stories about participants who allegedly used their earnings to buy cars and build houses made the scheme more appealing.

“Stories of participants using proceeds from the platform to buy cars and build houses further increased its appeal.

“The situation became alarming when a couple who invested millions of naira visited a branch after payments stopped, only to discover that the office had been abandoned,” he said.

How The Platform Operated

Accounts from participants and promotional materials indicate that PXES used a membership structure with different investment levels.

Participants paid specified amounts to join and received access to an online dashboard where they were expected to complete daily tasks described as orders.

Funmi Deinde, a former participant, said she withdrew her money before the collapse. She identified three membership levels as Star 1, Star 2 and Star 3.

“If you’re on Level Star 1, so to say, it is about N21,600. Then Star 2 is N54,800. Star 3 is N207,000.

“When you join with this money, you have an account, a dashboard that you’ll be taking orders from every day,” she said.

Deinde said the dashboard displayed household products which participants were expected to interact with.

She compared the process to online shopping platforms such as Temu and Jumia, although participants did not receive the displayed products.

“When you click ‘Order’, they will highlight some of the things that you should be clicking. Household properties will be highlighted there.

“The money that you used to register has secured you a place as a member. So, you now have access to take orders every day,” Deinde said.

She said members were initially allowed to withdraw their earnings daily before the withdrawal system was changed to weekly.

“Initially, every day, you can withdraw whatever you want to withdraw. The least withdrawal was N1,500, N5,000, N20,000, N100,000 and so on,” she added.

According to her, withdrawal dates were later assigned according to membership levels.

Another participant, Emmanuel Ajayi, said the N64,000 package generated approximately N2,160 from daily tasks, while the N21,600 package produced about N720.

Promotional materials reviewed by Saturday PUNCH listed packages starting from N21,600, with higher packages including N64,800 and N207,000.

The materials claimed that an investment of N21,600 could produce as much as N259,200 over 360 days, while N64,800 could yield up to N777,600 during the same period.

The figures represented returns several times the initial amounts.

Participants also said members could recruit new participants and develop networks within the platform.

A security guard, whose name was withheld, said he initially resisted joining after his sister introduced PXES to him.

He eventually invested N64,000 after repeated persuasion. He said he withdrew about N20,000 on two occasions before losing the remaining funds after payments stopped.

According to him, his sister had developed a larger network and lost more than N1m.

Investment Platform Or Digital Marketing Company?

Questions have also emerged over how PXES described its operations.

At an event in Kabba, representatives of the organisation reportedly rejected the description of PXES as an investment platform. Instead, they presented it as a digital marketing and advertising company.

Olubowale Ayodele, a company representative, told participants that PXES provided digital marketing opportunities for unemployed people and graduates.

“It’s a job that once you are doing it, we promote others; we promote brands from clients that have been giving to our company,” he said.

Ayodele encouraged graduates and unemployed people with smartphones to participate.

“If you know you are a graduate, if you know that you are unemployed, or if you know that you just have your smartphone, use it to do this digital marketing work because it works,” he stated.

He also claimed that one member of his team was earning N700,000 every week.

“By God’s grace, I have got somebody even out of my team that is receiving 700,000 weekly as salary,” Ayodele said.

Another official, Eniola Oluwatobi, who was identified as the company’s training director, described PXES as an advertising company.

“This is an advertising company. They partner with eBay and Amazon; those people give them, and PXES give us to advertise for them,” he said.

He explained that products were made available to participants through the PXES application.

“So, the PXES distributes those products to us to advertise for them through their app. So, by doing that, people are seeing the products,” Oluwatobi added.

The Obadofin of Oweland, Olusegun Are, who attended the Kabba event, also described PXES as an income opportunity.

“PXES is a very laudable programme that will help all of us in Nigeria to have another stream of income,” he said.

The traditional ruler also claimed that the organisation had distributed food items to more than 300 elderly people in Kabba.

Financial Experts Question Authorisation

The collapse has raised questions about whether PXES was authorised to collect investment funds from members of the public.

Financial analyst George Samuel advised Nigerians to establish the regulatory status of any organisation before committing money to an investment scheme.

He stressed that registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission does not automatically give a company permission to accept deposits or solicit investment funds.

“While a Corporate Affairs Commission number may be necessary, it does not serve as a licence to accept deposits or investment funds,” Samuel said.

“Avoid depositing or investing with any unlicensed firms. They are required to display their licence in their office, so ask or look for that SEC licence and do basic due diligence,” he added.

Samuel said organisations that accept deposits or offer investment services are subject to regulatory requirements. He urged prospective investors to verify the appropriate licence before committing their funds.

A banker, Kemi Junaid, also identified promises of exceptionally high returns and guaranteed profits as warning signs.

“Financial desperation and poor financial literacy often made people vulnerable to schemes promising quick and substantial returns.

“Prospective investors should question how an organisation intends to generate the returns it promises rather than relying on testimonials from other participants,” she said.

EFCC Urges Victims To Report Investment Scams

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it would examine reported cases of financial crimes and investment scams brought before it.

The commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, told Saturday PUNCH that complaints must be formally submitted before the EFCC can act.

“Any issue of financial crime, Ponzi scheme, investment scam that is duly reported to the EFCC, the commission will look into it. But it must be duly reported,” Oyewale said.

He recalled that the commission had issued several warnings about Ponzi schemes and other investment scams.

“As a form of reminder, the commission has issued several advisories against investment scams and Ponzi schemes. And we will continue to advise members of the public on doing due diligence before going into investment,” Oyewale said.

He said the commission would continue its preventive and enforcement efforts against financial crimes.

“But as an anti-corruption agency, we are unrelenting in our operational and preventive modalities to ensure that members of the public are shielded from all of these avoidable losses,” Oyewale said.

Oyewale did not confirm that the EFCC had opened a specific investigation into PXES.

PXES Collapse Follows Other Investment Scams

The PXES controversy is the latest in a series of investment schemes that have left Nigerians with significant financial losses.

In April 2025, the collapse of Crypto Bridge Exchange, popularly known as CBEX, caused widespread panic among investors. About 600,000 Nigerians were reportedly involved, with losses estimated at approximately N1.3tn.

CBEX had promised investors 100 per cent returns within 30 days through alleged artificial intelligence-powered trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission later said CBEX and its affiliates had not been registered to operate as a digital asset exchange or solicit investments from Nigerians.

The commission said its preliminary investigation found that the platform created a false impression of legitimacy and offered “implausibly high guaranteed returns” over a short period.

The EFCC subsequently investigated the scheme, with the commission announcing arrests and recovery efforts.

Another platform, EMAAR, reportedly collapsed later in 2025 after attracting more than 4,000 investors through claims of returns from real estate investments. Investigations into the platform indicated that much of its recruitment and communication took place online.

EMAAR reportedly stopped allowing withdrawals on October 27, 2025, with suspected losses later estimated at nearly N3bn.

In May 2026, another platform, XM Future Music Group, reportedly collapsed after investors could no longer access their funds.

Victims reportedly stormed its office in Badagry, Lagos State, and removed office equipment including generators, chairs, fans and televisions.

The platform had reportedly offered returns to participants for listening to music and completing online tasks, with entry packages ranging from N21,600 to several million naira.

The recurring pattern has raised renewed concerns about Nigerians placing money in schemes that promise unusually high returns without first establishing how the businesses generate the promised income.

PXES Online Presence Becomes Inaccessible

Attempts to access the platform’s known website, https://www.pxesng.com/, were unsuccessful.

Some investors also said the platform’s WhatsApp channel had been blocked.

Its Facebook page, PXES NG, had not been updated since June 21, according to checks conducted by Saturday PUNCH.

The page contained posts about training sessions, meetings and activities for participants. Some posts also highlighted team-building sessions and claimed expansion across Nigeria and other African countries.

PXES also claimed on the page to have impacted more than one million members through financial stability and welfare support.

With investors now unable to access their funds and the platform’s offices reportedly shut in some locations, affected participants are left seeking answers over the fate of their investments.