Nigerians, Beware of Facebook Accounts Promising to Double Your Investment in 45 Minutes

6 July 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Muktar Balogun

IN SHORT: Africa Check has exposed several Facebook accounts falsely claiming to offer investment services. This time scammers have used the name of the OctaFX trading platform to deceive people.

A post on Facebook is offering investment plans to Nigerians to double their money in just 45 minutes.

The post, dated 1 July 2023, reads: "GOOD DAY MY DEAR FAMILY AND FRIEND'S I want to introduce you all to a paying and a legitimate platform which I joined.. This is a platform that gives you double of your initial investment within 45minutes after investing."

It also says the poster made an investment of N150,000 and received N300,000 in return on the OctaFX trading platform.

Similar posts have been shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

But is this investment offer to be trusted? We checked.

What is OctaFX?

OctaFX is a business platform that helps Forex traders make trading decisions.

Forex refers to foreign exchange, a global marketing place for exchanging money from one currency to another. People buy currencies when they are cheaper and sell them at higher prices to make profits. Those who are in this business are called Forex traders.

This is the official website of OctaFX, with links to its Facebook and Twitter pages. The platform has over 500,000 followers on Facebook and is verified on Twitter.

OctaFX reports fraudulent activity in its name

In May 2023, news site the Punch reported that OctaFX had seen a rise in fraudulent activity in the platform's name. It has urged its clients to be wary of scammers unlawfully using the OctaFX brand to scam them.

The platform says it has never promised a sure profit, emphasising that the Forex trading results depend largely on the trader.

This model varies from what is promised in the posts found on Facebook, offering double profits in 45 minutes.

Signs of scam

Africa Check has previously debunked similar investment schemes asking Nigerians to invest and double their money within an hour. An unusually short timeline for profit is a red flag.

The post includes a WhatsApp link where those who are interested can send a message. Directing users to WhatsApp is common in investment scams.

To help protect yourself against online scams, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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