Here’s How CBEX Scammed Nigerians of $822M in Nine Months

The past few days have been characterized by a wave of sadness and disappointment in Nigeria. Thousands have lost about $822 million (1.3 trillion naira) due to the sudden disappearance of a so-called crypto trading platform called CBEX, which operated in the country for the past nine months.

The scam project lured users with promises of profits from crypto trading activities based on short-term leverage positions. To make the platform appear legitimate, intending traders were mandated to register using a government-issued document — a National Identification Number (NIN) or a Bank Verification Number (BVN).

How Did the Scam Occur?

The CBEX trading platform gained popularity in the most populous African country during the second half of 2024 as it entered the market with an enticing offer. Consequently, many citizens searching for additional sources of income and improving their livelihood invested heavily in the project, not knowing it was a Pyramid scheme.

The CBEX project allowed registered customers to start trading with a minimum $100 (155,000 naira) deposit. The company provides traders with two leveraged trading scalping signals daily on the BTCUSD pair. Traders are expected to set their take profit (TP) positions at a 1% profit position. Following this pattern, the users will get about 100% of their investment within 30 days.

After a few months, the firm introduced a trading bot that placed and closed the twice-daily trading positions for clients. Thus, it served as passive income for the traders while they continued their normal daily activities.

The company built a good reputation on dropping signals, as its trade positions never incurred any losses within the nine months of its consistent daily trading.

CBEX Attracts New Users

To welcome new users to the platform, CBEX introduced a referral bonus. In this way, users earn a percentage of the trading profits of their downlines. By adopting this pattern, direct CBEX officials do not advertise the company’s services. Instead, users do the advertising and earn rewards.

Driven by the referral rewards, many profitable CBEX users hosted seminars and meetups to share useful tips and testimonies with interested parties. Following the principle that the best advertisement comes from existing customers, this strategy drew the attention of many new users who joined the scheme after seeing the huge wallet balances of their referers.

Meanwhile, to ensure users always have funds on the platform, the CBEX team introduced a 45-day withdrawal period. Users who placed withdrawal orders before this period were charged a 20% service fee. However, withdrawing on the 45th day only incurs a 5% service fee.

An $822M Scam

CBEX’s flawed operations eventually failed. On Friday, April 11, 2025, the company halted withdrawals from the platform, telling users to interact with bots until Tuesday, April 15, when the withdrawal portal will be reopened.

Many users hit social media platforms after the announcement with complaints and fears. However, long-term CBEX traders were not shaken. They claimed the same incident occurred in 2024, and the firm resumed withdrawals on that day.

Surprisingly, on Monday, April 14, 2025, all CBEX traders’ wallet balances vanished, returning to zero. Thereafter, it dawned on the community that their funds had gone. As of this writing, angry mobs have vandalized the company’s physical offices in Rivers and Oyo States.

Notably, pyramid schemes are but one way scammers siphon funds from their victims. Other malicious schemes include phishing exploits, crypto address poisoning, and ransomware.