IN SHORT: A new investment platform called 777 claims to double your money in less than five minutes. But Nigerians are being urged to be cautious as the platform may be out to scam them.
A Facebook user is calling on Nigerians who want to grow their money to join a new platform called 777.
“About us - 777 PLATFORM is a Big Investment platform where anyone can come and get profit easily. It's a brand new trading site that helps you to trade your money and get your money doubled within 3 minutes. Suppose trading 5 USD and getting 10 USD in return within 3 minutes isn't that amazing?” says the user in a 3 September 2023 post.
The post features two links: one for registration and another to join the platform’s “official group” on instant messaging app Telegram.
We found similar posts here, here, here, and here.
But is this investment platform legit? We checked.
What did we find?
Africa Check questioned the legitimacy of the platform and its website link as provided on the post, and found a number of red flags.
The suspicious post claims that “777” is a newly launched platform. But according to WhoIs, a site that stores historical data about other websites, the platform’s website was created in February 2005. The details of the person who registered the platform’s website are “REDACTED FOR PRIVACY”. This is a red flag, as a trustworthy and legitimate business would be expected to be transparent about its operations and ownership.
Website verification tool, ScamAdviser, says the platform’s website could possibly be a scam and gives it “a low trust score”.
Furthermore, Africa Check found “poor” online reviews of the “777 Platform”. Most people on Trustpilot, a website that hosts reviews in order to build trust between consumers and businesses, said the platform was a scam and detailed how they lost their money on it.
Platforms that offer to double your money in a short period of time should always raise suspicion as they are unsustainable.
All signs point to “777 Platform” being a scam.
Warning to the public
Facebook users are often urged not to put their trust and money into platforms that promise large returns in a short period of time.
In August 2022, the Cable, a media company based in Nigeria, reported that the country’s Security and Exchange Commission warned of unlicensed operations such as Ponzi schemes, money doubling schemes and other investment platforms.
Similarly, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission, a federal government agency that supervises banks, warned against fraudulent financial institutions and urged Nigerians not to fall victim to such scams.
To help protect yourself against online scams, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.
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