- Ponzi schemes have been trending in Nigeria and Nigerians are being defrauded under various platforms
- Internet Association in Nigeria is making moves to stop these fraudulent schemes
- The association has established a law enforcement desk to handle complaints on domain name abuse
The federal government owned Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) said it had mapped out strategies to deal with issues of Internet abuse by various forms of Ponzi schemes such as MMM, Twinkas, Ultimate Cycler and others.
In a statement issued on Friday, March 3, Sunday Folayan, the president of NIRA, said an Internal Procedural Process to manage and deal with such complaints has been received.
He said a law enforcement desk which will handle complaints on domain name abuse has been established and the association would work in conjunction with relevant law enforcement agencies to deal with the menace.
READ ALSO: Bonuses, growth of mavros stopped as MMM announces new strategy
“If you discover any form of Internet abuse with .ng websites please send an email to abuse@nira.org.ng. We will deal with it. Together we can make the internet safe for us and our children,’’ he said.
Folayan noted that many Nigerians were being defrauded by various forms of Ponzi schemes operated by fraudsters under various names and platforms.
According to him the fraudsters were feeding on peoples’ greed and the poor economic situation to lure more victims into their fraudulent schemes.
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The federal government has warned Nigerians severally not to invest or get involved in Ponzi schemes but it has fallen on deaf ears.
Nigerians have continued to patronize different Ponzi schemes which came up after the fall of the popular MMM Nigeria.
According to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), an estimated three million Nigerians lost N18billion in the popular Ponzi scheme, MMM.
Watch Nigerians open up about MMM in the video below.
One of the ironies of the information age is how it’s turning out to obscure rather than improve our understanding of what’s really going on. The pressure to report quickly errs towards unverified reporting, or reporting based on facts distributed via unchecked sources or biased lobby groups intent on propagating causes, which in turn leads to an abundance of misinformation which confuses everyone.
A racketeer like Mr Sergey Mavrodi, the man behind the MMM “transparent” pyramid schemes we drew attention to last week, flourishes in such an environment. The more contradictory the information about him on the internet, the better for him. The same goes for other transparent pyramid schemes (such as all cryptocurrencies). Historically-tested logic about why pyramids are economically flawed is reduced to an opinion, much the same way that scientifically-verified proof about how carbon emissions are causing climate change also gets reduced to an opinion by certain special-interest groups.
Below we share a Q&A with Mavrodi. And he’s done us a little video to prove that we are communicating with the man himself…
Following FT Alphaville’s linking of Mavrodi’s latest Chinese scheme to the recent surge in bitcoin’s value, we were struck by the number of bitcoin fans who found this something of an inconvenient truth. They alleged, for example, we had no grounds to assert MMM was making bitcoin fly.
Which is funny because in the meantime, even the men running bitcoin exchanges have come out to warn about the influence of MMM on bitcoin’s current price volatility. Here’s what Bobby Lee, CEO of Chinese Bitcoin Exchange BTCC, told Nathanial Popper at the New York Times:
But he said he had seen signs that Chinese investors were using Bitcoin to move money into an international investment scheme, MMM Global, which claims to have been created by a man who did prison time in Russia after a previous Ponzi scheme collapsed.
To its credit, the outwardly respectable arm of the Bitcoin community seems to be doing its darnedest at this point to warn the “ecosystem” about the destabilising effects of MMM. (Without a hint of irony, but that’s another story.)
Since Wednesday, we have gained a lot more understanding about the linkages between MMM and bitcoin. For one, we now understand that MMM is a series of different pyramid schemes. MMM China, which accepts bitcoin, started operation in April 2015, according to Mavrodi. But, says Mavrodi himself, it’s his MMM Global scheme that’s been driving all the bitcoin volumes.
Unlike Mavrodi’s other schemes, MMM Global — also popular with Chinese investors — operates exclusively in bitcoin. It’s also open to anyone in the world. Furthermore, in contrast to the paltry 30 per cent monthly returns promised by MMM China, MMM Global claims monthly returns of 100 per cent.
To what degree is MMM driving bitcoin volumes?
Well, here’s the correspondence we had with Mavrodi over the weekend:
1) Where is Sergey Mavrodi based? Is he in China or somewhere else?
Not in China.
2) is Mr Mavrodi one of the mutual aid beneficiaries?
No. It would be immoral.
3) How long has MMM China been running?
Since April 2015
4) When did MMM start using Bitcoin?
I guess you misunderstand the situation. There is a national structure MMM-China where Bitcoin almost isn’t used (although using it isn’t forbidden), and there is an international structure MMM-Global (Bitcoin Republic) where exclusively Bitcoin is used. At the same time, there are a lot of Chinese participating in MMM GLOBAL, but it’s a different matter. Moreover, one can participate both in MMM-China and MMM Global (Bitcoin Republic) at the same time.
5) In what capacity is Bitcoin used?
In MMM Global (Bitcoin Republic) only Bitcoin is used for the structure is international, and international banking payments are expensive and complicated for ordinary members.
6) Which exchanges are MMM participants directed to?
We don’t direct anybody to anywhere. Participants are free to choose the most convenient service for them.
7) What does Mr Mavrodi think of Bitcoin?
Nothing. It’s just a convenient international payment instrument.
8) How much money has been mutually exchanged via MMM China?
You might be talking about MMM Global (Bitcoin Republic)? It’s comparable to the world stock exchanges volumes. If I refuse using Bitcoin tomorrow, it will fall down. You can have a look at the daily happiness letters on the website to estimate the volumes. Nevertheless, keep in mind that we don’t public all letters not to overload the servers. It’s impossible to public all of them.
9) Are you confident that people understand the risks of knowingly engaging in a financial pyramid?
MMM isn’t a financial pyramid. There is neither legal entity nor central banking account where participants’ money accumulates (where it can be stolen from). There are only accounts belonging to private individuals – ordinary members who transfer money to each other directly, without any intermediaries. MMM is just a dispatcher. With regards to the risks, all existing risks are mentioned on the website. What else to add… I don’t know. If you think it is not enough, feel free to send the warnings that you think should be mentioned on the site. We will publish them with pleasure. Together with the current ones. Generally, MMM is the most honest of the existing organizations. There are risks everywhere, however only MMM declares them openly. All the others just lie.
10) How can we contact Mr Mavrodi?
It’s easy. Actually, you have already done it.
11) In how many countries is MMM currently operating?
All information is available on the website. The issue is that in some countries our presence isn’t visible. Yet. Eventually MMM will be everywhere. How else could it be when it really pays up to 100% per month?
12) How many associates does Mr Mavrodi have?
I haven’t understood the question. Actually, it’s not related to the issue.
13) How many people are engaged in the current Chinese scheme?
All the participants do their best to help the system. Actually, I suggest you registering in the system as an ordinary participant to check everything by yourself. You will see that all these “crazy interests” are real. And everybody really gets paid. That’s the power of MMM and the secret of its popularity.
14) Are Chinese banks still facilitating yuan transfers between MMM participants?
Chinese banks just make transfers in yuan between private individuals. How can they know that they are MMM participants? They are ordinary private transfers.
15) What is Mr Mavrodi’s relationship like with the Russian and Chinese authorities?
No relationship. I don’t need anything from them and I hope they don’t need anything from me either. At least, I don’t violate any laws. None of the letter of the law!
16) Does Mr Mavrodi think the Bitcoin price rally is connected to MMM?
What is there to «think» about? It’s obvious. Taking into account our volumes. See question 8. If there are any further questions, please ask! Sergey Mavrodi will be pleased to answer them. Together we change the world!
And we followed up with:
Given the confusion about the Bitcoin use, can I ask when did MMM Global begin and when did it start using bitcoins, or has it done so from the beginning?
MMM Global had started earlier, but only after the launch of China it had a qualitative leap. As millions of Chinese have become involved both in MMM-China and MMM Global. (In MMM Global the growth rate may be higher if you do the tasks. And all members perform them indeed quite willingly.) Accordingly, it has created a huge demand for Bitcoin and abruptly increased its price. But that’s just a side effect. I have never made it a special aim to manipulate the Bitcoin price.
Given your description below about the peer transfer nature of MMM Global, does that mean it operates exclusively on trust?
That’s right. The participants transfer money to complete strangers (other participants) without any papers, guarantees and promises of paying back. In fact, they just donate it. For example you have registered and announced that you are willing to provide help for such a sum. You will receive information from other participants to whom it will be necessary to transfer this sum. To transfer it for free! Demanding nothing in return. There will be contact details of those people so you can communicate with them if you wish, and make sure they are real, living people. The same ordinary participants, as you are. If you refuse to transfer, you will be expelled from the system. Without the right to participate in it anymore. And that’s all. Everything is very simple. But in general, you’d better register and check everything in practice. It makes the most sense.
What were the actual charges that Mr. Mavrodi was found guilty of in Russia. Reports in the archives range from tax evasion to securities fraud.
As far as in the year 1994 it was necessary to stop me by all manner of means and there was nothing they could accuse me of. I faced a hastily fabricated accusation of tax evasion (What for? For pyramid? Yet the authorities claimed that MMM was a pyramid). As the investigator then openly spoke to me: “Well, we had to find at least something to blame you for. If MMM would have worked a couple of months longer, it could have resulted in Parliament or the President becoming obsolete. There would be one pure MMM.” The prosecution then naturally failed, not even coming to trial, but the goal was achieved: I was isolated and it sparked panic among the participants. It was in 1994. And in 2003 I was charged with fraud, for which I got 4.5 years’ imprisonment. When at the trial I asked the prosecutor what was the point of charging me for fraud, since everybody had been warned about everything initially, about all possible risks. The prosecutor calmly said, “but the people didn’t understand what they were doing.” Adult, capable people and yet “did not understand”! Of course, this would mean that anyone and for any reason can be put in prison. And the argument would be “people did not understand.” I served, by the way, my whole sentence not in a regular prison, but in the special detention center 99/1 (prison inside prison) with professional killers, maniacs and crime bosses. I had 15 hunger strikes and a lot of times I was isolated in the disciplinary cell (I even was set free from the same disciplinary cell), because I believed that they treated me wrong and I strongly rejected to abide by the prison regime. But it is so, besides the point.
So, according to Mavrodi his scheme is completely legal because the risks are well presented (a.k.a the caveat emptor defence of Silicon Valley techies) and that “it’s obvious” that without MMM the price of bitcoin would collapse.
A couple of quick, obvious points in return, are:
A 100 per cent return per month implies that a £100 investment would yield £409,600 in 12 months — clearly insane. The ignorant people putting money up here almost certainly can’t afford to lose it, which they will. Mavrodi claims that the peer-to-peer nature of the scheme, wherein MMM mostly operates as an introduction service to voluntary “charity” transfers which are based on trust in the system, means the banks can’t stop them. This is bunk. In the regulated banking world, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering provisions ensure that if an account holder suddenly starts receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue from multiple sources outside of their usual revenue pattern, these sums will be investigated. Furthermore, most countries have caps on how much “gift aid” a private individual can receive tax-free. There are allowances for registered charities or churches, but as comedian John Oliver has highlighted just because you claim televangelical church status, doesn’t make this “seed planting” scheme any less of a scam. If the sums are received in bitcoin accounts, they amount to paper gains only. The chances that investors can cash them out in dollars or materialise the profits via exchange for real world goods and services, are low.
What’s weird is that Mavrodi hasn’t been closed down yet. We hope to have more on that matter soon.
A Russian man living in Tewksbury, who went by the online nickname "Joga," pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to participating in a scheme to use stolen credit card and debit card information to buy more than $400,000 in expensive electronics and gift cards .
Ukraine-based broker, MMCIS, shifted to crisis management mode today in response to the outbreak of the “information war” we reported last week and probably also the Maltese warning
against MMCIS from yesterday. The newly elected president of the
company, Roman Komysa, signed and issued an emergency
anti-crisis program in order to “stabilize the company under a raider
attack and eliminate panic due to external factors.”
In order to eliminate client panic, the broker has decided to cancel
all client requests for withdrawal of funds that are in process but have
not yet passed the final inspection and have not reached the financial
department of MMCIS. Moreover, until further notice, the broker has
limited the maximum amount of withdrawal to $200. In addition, clients
now cannot request more than one withdrawal application per week, and
accordingly, will not be able to withdraw more than $800 per month.
Also from the list of anti-crisis measures, it seems that the company
intends to increase staff in its financial department at the expense of
all other departments that will be cut down in size. MMCIS management
promises to speed up the process of customer verification, but
apparently does not know how to, as it asks its staff for suggestions on
how to achieve it. Additionally, the funds in the accounts of
introducing brokers and partners are apparently locked temporarily as
some payment systems are disabled. The president ordered the company “to
take steps to unblock them and continue using the temporarily disabled
payment systems.”
The most defensive anti-crisis measures taken by the new leadership
are to hire lawyers to file lawsuits against the media involved in the
supposed PR attack, implement technical limitations on their website and
order the firm’s security department to organize a defense of the
company’s employees to prevent pressure on them by third parties,
including psychological, logistical and more. The last measure might
suggest that the broker is expecting clients and introducing brokers to
actually come to the door and demand withdrawals.
MMCIS, based on the successful practices of other companies, the
management states that it hopes its clients will understand the need for
the restrictive measures, and promises to inform them directly about
further developments. At the same time, the company is going “to block
the possibility of opponents to distort the positive essence of the
introduced restrictive measures,” and employ more moderators to censor
forum posts and comments.
Hopefully, MMCIS’s anti-crisis plan will work and they will be able
to regain customer trust, bringing them back again, whereafter they will
have to work hard in order to get their money out.
- See more at:
http://forexmagnates.com/warned-ukrainian-broker-mmcis-limits-withdrawals-part-anti-crisis-measures/#sthash.cV0hB9mD.dpuf
Ukraine-based broker, MMCIS, shifted to crisis management mode today in response to the outbreak of the “information war” we reported last week and probably also the Maltese warning
against MMCIS from yesterday. The newly elected president of the
company, Roman Komysa, signed and issued an emergency
anti-crisis program in order to “stabilize the company under a raider
attack and eliminate panic due to external factors.”
In order to eliminate client panic, the broker has decided to cancel
all client requests for withdrawal of funds that are in process but have
not yet passed the final inspection and have not reached the financial
department of MMCIS. Moreover, until further notice, the broker has
limited the maximum amount of withdrawal to $200. In addition, clients
now cannot request more than one withdrawal application per week, and
accordingly, will not be able to withdraw more than $800 per month.
Also from the list of anti-crisis measures, it seems that the company
intends to increase staff in its financial department at the expense of
all other departments that will be cut down in size. MMCIS management
promises to speed up the process of customer verification, but
apparently does not know how to, as it asks its staff for suggestions on
how to achieve it. Additionally, the funds in the accounts of
introducing brokers and partners are apparently locked temporarily as
some payment systems are disabled. The president ordered the company “to
take steps to unblock them and continue using the temporarily disabled
payment systems.”
The most defensive anti-crisis measures taken by the new leadership
are to hire lawyers to file lawsuits against the media involved in the
supposed PR attack, implement technical limitations on their website and
order the firm’s security department to organize a defense of the
company’s employees to prevent pressure on them by third parties,
including psychological, logistical and more. The last measure might
suggest that the broker is expecting clients and introducing brokers to
actually come to the door and demand withdrawals.
MMCIS, based on the successful practices of other companies, the
management states that it hopes its clients will understand the need for
the restrictive measures, and promises to inform them directly about
further developments. At the same time, the company is going “to block
the possibility of opponents to distort the positive essence of the
introduced restrictive measures,” and employ more moderators to censor
forum posts and comments.
Hopefully, MMCIS’s anti-crisis plan will work and they will be able
to regain customer trust, bringing them back again, whereafter they will
have to work hard in order to get their money out.
- See more at:
http://forexmagnates.com/warned-ukrainian-broker-mmcis-limits-withdrawals-part-anti-crisis-measures/#sthash.cV0hB9mD.dpuf
Ukraine-based broker, MMCIS, shifted to crisis management mode today in response to the outbreak of the “information war” we reported last week and probably also the Maltese warning against MMCIS from yesterday. The newly elected president of the company, Roman Komysa, signed and issued an emergency anti-crisis program in order to “stabilize the company under a raider attack and eliminate panic due to external factors.”
In order to eliminate client panic, the broker has decided to cancel all client requests for withdrawal of funds that are in process but have not yet passed the final inspection and have not reached the financial department of MMCIS. Moreover, until further notice, the broker has limited the maximum amount of withdrawal to $200. In addition, clients now cannot request more than one withdrawal application per week, and accordingly, will not be able to withdraw more than $800 per month.
July 17th Russian terrorists operating in Ukraine shot down a commercial boeing 777 thinking it was a Ukrainian transport aircraft AN-26.
Here are some videos of the plane crashing:
The reason why this happened is because Ukraine was trying to kick out the terrorists and soldiers Russia was sending into East-Ukraine using SU-25 fighter jets. Russia wants to do in Ukraine what it did in Crimea too: take over and annex large parts of it.
The (pro)Russian terrorists up untill last week had portable anti-air systems called MANPADs, but these are not very effective against jets. With air dominance the (pro)Russian terrorists where loosing a lot of ground. Therefore last week Russia was sending advanced air-defense systems into Ukraine to fend of the jets. These are so called BUK-M1 systems.
The Russians were bragging that they got such a system. After discovering their failure they removed all such messages, but the internet community has been able so save all. This is a tweet later deleted, that shows how the DNR brags about having a BUK (thanks to @RobPulseNews): read this
In Malaga , dozens of people have suffered at the hands of fraudsters who staged a pyramid scheme under the notorious MMM brand . Police have arrested four Ukrainians and one Russian on suspicion in the case.
Immigrant Maria eight years living outside Russia . But even here , thousands of miles away , the home still has an effect . One day the wife of a successful Spanish lawyer was the victim of a financial pyramid MMM and the famous Sergei Mavrodi.
It tells the victim , to hand over the money in an international mutual aid fund offered her friend. She introduced her to some kind of Galina , that had the coordinator and was very convincing , talking about the field of miracles in the country MMM. But at the appointed time, Mary is not got not only the dividends and investment.
- This friend of a woman so all is well explained and showed my bank card. It seems everything is easily turned Behold how much she put on a card , that's the same amount as a result received - told Life News suffered at the hands of fraudsters Maria . - Actually , I have played a factor of greed, and I decided to try.
Later it turned out that even before the ticket MMM depositors' money did not reach. They settled in the accounts coordinator , so the dividend funds is not enough.
- Against coordinators who have worked in this system , a criminal case . They are accused of fraud. Punishment can range from 6 months to 3 years in prison - said in a conversation with Life News lawyer . - If there are aggravating circumstances , if the number of defrauded investors , or is found to be a significant amount of damage will exceed 50 million euros , the penalty will be increased from one to six years in prison. In this case , as far as is known, the total damage at Malaga exceeded 50 thousand euros.
Victims at the hands of fraudsters in Malaga very much. But the police are convinced that not all turned to the courts . Most of the defrauded investors living in Spain illegally and are simply afraid of extradition to his homeland.
Now fraud investigation continues. Arrested on accounts of fraudsters blocked more than 80 million euros . But the police do not believe that for disbursement to victims even enough of that amount.
The German Federal Ministry of Finance said on Monday that Bitcoin is not a full-fledged currency but that it is permissible to use it in private transactions.
To produce bitcoins, processors must hum away solving mathematical problems. But mavros, another virtual currency, are simpler. They exist because Sergey Mavrodi, their creator, says they do. And while the recent spike in bitcoin value is the result of speculation on the open market, the rate for mavros is “established personally by Mr. Sergey Mavrodi…. twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” Their value doubles every month, in fact. more
The first thing I thought of when I read about the Bitcoin Ponzi scheme was “Super Mario Bros”. I had heard of Bitcoin before but had always assumed that, like a coin in the classic Nintendo game, it was relatively worthless in the real world. I was wrong. At the current exchange rate, the man responsible for the Ponzi scheme made off with the equivalent of $5.6 million.
