Millions of naira invested by Nigerians in PXES ponzi scheme, an online investment platform, are now at risk after the scheme suddenly stopped paying returns and became inaccessible.
According to information obtained by Saturday PUNCH, investors who put tens of thousands to millions of naira into the platform were left stranded. Some also struggled to reach the operators after the platform stopped paying investors in early September.
The collapse angered investors, with some attacking and ransacking PXES offices across the country, particularly in Adamawa and Kogi states, in an attempt to recover their money.
Our journalists found that the platform attracted investors by promising exceptionally high daily returns.
The portal reportedly offered investment returns ranging from 25 to 50 per cent, with some packages promising returns as high as 120 per cent.
Outburst in Kogi, Adamawa
According to sources, frustrated investors who could not withdraw their money stormed PXES offices in Adamawa and Kogi states.
Similar incidents occurred at the company’s headquarters in Kabba, while viral videos showed individuals removing chairs, tables and other belongings from the Yola office.
In one of the videos, a man who reportedly invested N209,000 was seen crying and lamenting his inability to recover his money.
After the platform stopped making payments, the Kabba manager reportedly issued a message assuring investors that the company would reimburse them and asking for their patience.
However, the company reportedly shut its premises three days after the message went viral, leaving investors unaware of the operators’ whereabouts and uncertain about the fate of their money.
How PXES ponzi scheme worked
According to interviews with participants and promotional materials reviewed by Saturday PUNCH, PXES operated a tiered membership system. Members paid a set fee to join the platform before gaining access to an online dashboard.
Funmi Deinde, a participant, told Saturday PUNCH that she withdrew her money before the platform collapsed. She explained that PXES had different membership levels, including Star 1, Star 2 and Star 3.
She said users accessed a dashboard where they completed tasks referred to as orders.
“If you’re on Level Star 1, so to say, it is about N21,600. Then Star 2 is N54,800. Star 3 is N207,000.
“When you join with this money, you have an account, a dashboard that you’ll be taking orders from every day,” she said.
Deinde explained that participants could interact with items displayed on the dashboard, including household products.
Although participants did not actually receive the products, she compared the process to placing orders on online marketplaces such as Temu and Jumia.
Deinde claims that as the number of users grew, the platform’s daily withdrawal policy eventually reduced to a weekly one.
Backstory…
This is not the first time Nigerians are loosing money to schemes similar to the PXES ponzi scheme.
In April of 2025, the collapse of the CBEX, which was run by a group of foreigners working with their Nigerian partners and had offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and other locations around the nation, left investors stranded.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and INTERPOL subsequently began investigating the recently defunct online digital trading platform, CBEX, which allegedly embezzled N1.3 trillion from its investors.
Similar ponzi schemes that Nigerians have lost money to in the past include MMM, Loopers, Twinkas among others.
Read Also: EFCC, INTERPOL begin probe as Nigerians lose trillion to Ponzi scheme, CBEX crash
