IN SHORT: A Facebook post offers to double users' money on the “Africa Labour Empowerment Investment” platform. But there is no registered business by that name in Nigeria.
“Good Day to you all my friends and family I will like to introduce you to a platform called AFRICA LABOUR EMPOWERMENT INVESTMENT it a platform that support and give you 100% of what EVER you put in,” reads a post on Facebook, claiming to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Nigerians.
The 1 August 2023 post also says: “This company was unveiled on 1st May, 2018 Worldwide and Registration just started for *PIONEERS/LEADERS* while official launching date was on 1st June, 2018*.”
It includes a WhatsApp link and a phone number.
The post had no comments at the time of publication. However, we found similar posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. These had received hundreds of comments and likes.
Africa Check has exposed several Facebook accounts falsely claiming to offer investment opportunities to Nigerians.
But is this investment scheme another scam? We checked.
Common scam on Facebook
The post's poor writing and grammar are good signs that it’s a scam. It also features many asterisks and random capitalisation, which is uncharacteristic of a social media post by a reputable company.
The investment platform is a Ponzi scheme. This is a type of fraud where a business uses the profit of later investors to compensate early investors. This is another sign that this post is not to be trusted.
In a tweet in 2022, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission warned Nigerians against investing in businesses like this. The commission is responsible for the eradication of economic and financial crimes in the country.
Africa Check also searched the country’s business register and found no company named “Labour Empowerment Investment”.
Africa Check has previously investigated similar false investment schemes here, here and here.
To help protect yourself against online scams, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.
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