African State Use Cryptocurrencies For Cross Border Payments As Well As For International Remittances Among Many Growing Use Case
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Odindechristiana
Bitcoin Scam In Nigeria
~24.2 mins read
African state use cryptocurrencies for cross border payments as well as for international remittances among many growing use cases. However, this growth momentum faces a threat from an old vice — scams.
Cryptocurrency-related scams threaten to overrun the blockchain space as new ones get launched all the time. Adding to the woes is the global pandemic, covid-19, which appears to have opened a new artery for criminals.
Many concerned stakeholders are now raising the alarm as they try to turn the tide against criminals. The Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), the equivalent of Nigeria’s blockchain association, is one organization sounding the alarm.
Scams: A Threat to Crypto Adoption
SIBAN is mandated with promoting cryptocurrency adoption as well as ensuring consumer protection against crypto scams. The organization believes the scourge, if left unchecked, will not only impede further growth of the space but may well reverse public confidence in the emerging technology.
Senator Iyere Ihenyen, General Secretary (GS) of SIBAN, speaks to news.Bitcoin.com. He starts by explaining why Africa’s most populous nation has been grappling with scams for years.
“So to really understand the rising rate of scams in Nigeria, it is vital to understand the context. A country of over 200 million people with a high rate of youth unemployment and underemployment, Nigeria has unfortunately made itself a haven for scammers,†explains Ihenyen.
The Nigeria market presents scammers with a large pool of desperate people to target. Still, some fall victim to scams not because they are desperate but because of “sheer greed.â€
As Ihenyen observes, scammers are now “riding on the rising popularity of the blockchain and cryptocurrencies to dupe even more members of the public.â€
The GS is asked about Inksnation, an investment platform that has been labeled a scam by some Nigerians. Ihenyen, who says he first heard of this alleged scam in December 2019, dismisses claims by its founders that the investment scheme has its own blockchain.
The GS is emphatic in labeling the platform:
Inksnation is not on any blockchain. Its Inksledger, which it claims to be its blockchain, is not public and may as well be inexistent. There is no whitepaper. In Inksnation’s team is the founder himself (as Daddy Ink) and ‘Elohim Jahgah God the Trinity Trustor & Grantor Inksnation.’
According to Ihenyen, Inksnation typifies scams that routinely take advantage of Nigeria’s economic situation to defraud thousands of unsuspecting investors.
Regulatory Response
Still, Ihenyen says contrary to a perception that nothing is being done, efforts are ongoing to rid the space of scams. For instance, he says SIBAN and Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have both issued public alerts warning the public about Inksnation.
Predictably, the alerts have not stopped Inksnation from continuing to invite more Nigerians to invest with it. Ihenyen points to two possible reasons why Inksnation is seemingly unfazed by the alerts and why Nigerians appear indifferent to the alerts.
Ihenyen suggests that Inksnation is aware that SIBAN can only issue advisories but lacks the power to enforce or to make arrests.
On the other hand, the SEC may be in a position to cause an action to be taken against Inksnation. However, by deliberately labeling itself as a blockchain entity, an unregulated space, it thinks the regulator lacks sufficient legal grounds to take action.
In addition, Ihenyen highlights the difficulty of convincing a greedy investor who has made up his mind to walk away. When SIBAN issued an alert against Inksnation, it received brickbats instead of plaudits, the GS says.
As a result, Inksnation continues to operate unhindered.
In the meantime, Ihenyen suggests the same socio-economic and legal environment to be responsible for enabling two more prominent investment scams to proliferate. Ethereum Million Money and Forsage are two other investment platforms which began “trending from the month of March till date.â€
According to some Nigerian media reports, Ethereum Million Money is a multi-level marketing scam that has some investors already counting losses. Similarly, a report by behindmlm.com — a scam tracking website — seemingly backs Ihenyen’s claim about Forsage. Forsage has also been flagged by regulators in the Philipines.
At the time of writing, SIBAN had just received fresh complaints about another possible scam, Lionshare.
SIBAN’s Long-Term Plan to Counter Scams
Turning his attention to what SIBAN is planning to do to curb incidences of cryptocurrency scams, Ihenyen says they are looking to collaborate with like-minded institutions in raising awareness.
“SIBAN plans to partner with Blockchain Nigeria User Group (BNUG), the Cryptography Development Initiative of Nigeria (CDIN) and other bodies in the space to launch the Anti-Scam Alert Project (ASAP).â€
Finally, Ihenyen says SIBAN has a “special blockchain education project loading, in collaboration with select local and global blockchain & crypto platforms.â€
What do you think of Nigeria’s problem with scams? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Inksnation, SIBAN
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How You Can Get A Payeer Master Card In Nigeria
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true that you can’t order PAYEER MasterCard directly using a Nigerian address, but that doesn’t mean PAYEER doesn’t want Nigerians to use their MasterCard. As a Nigerian, living in Nigeria, you can use a PAYEER MasterCard.First, it’s is good for you to get verified by PAYEER, using a valid proof of address and proof of nationality. PAYEER accepts only travelling passport and government issued plastic National ID card as a proof of nationality.However, if you don’t need a MasterCard or if you don’t need to withdraw PAYEER directly to your domiciliary bank account in Nigeria, there’s no need to get verified (which PAYEER also calls “personalization’). Without verification, you can open a PAYEER account and start sending/receiving money right away – without limits.Once again, verification/personalization is necessary only if you want to use PAYEER MasterCard on ATMs worldwide or you want to withdraw PAYEER as Forex into your domiciliary account in Nigeria.Now, for you to get a PAYEER MasterCard, simply login and apply for one. Put in all your correct information, but when it comes to country, choose another country. Please choose a country in which you have a friend or relative or an acquaintance you trust and use the person’s address for card delivery. The PAYEER MasterCard would then be sent to the person’s address in that country, and the person would just send it to you in Nigeria (by regular mail or registered mail or courier or by hand of someone coming to Nigeria). Then you can start enjoying the uses of your PAYEER MasterCard.PAYEER support sums it up thus: You can order delivery of Payeer MasterCard in another available for delivery country from the list where you have relatives or friends who can receive and send you this card and enjoy Payeer MasterCard in your own country.https://payeer.com/en/account/card/
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