#86FB: Nigerians React To Possible Crash Of Investment Platform, Question Ownership

86FB, an investment platform that claims it focuses on football and works with William Hill, a global online gambling company based in London, England, to integrate probability and statistics, may have just crashed.

This comes as a number of high profile Ponzi investments have crashed in Nigeria in recent times. The platform which claims to be owned by City Football Group also has been discovered to not be owned by the Abu Dhabi based company which owns Manchester City Football Club in England.

It would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) recently announced it is set to arrest four Ponzi scheme operators across Nigeria within the next few weeks.

What is 86Fb?

The platform claims it “Focuses on football and works with William Hill to integrate probability and statistics. Calculations, mathematics and other principles make competitive football not only a game, but also a high level comparable to funds and stocks. 

It says it runs a hedge fund arbitrage method that combines finance and conceptual science to earn stable returns with extremely low risk in sports gambling.

Some of its agents also claim it runs a reverse betting site investors can earn 3% of their capital daily (90% monthly ROI), if they play the game plan provided by the team.

A possible crash of the Ponzi scheme

All the promises of juicy returns on investments indeed sounded too good to be true as some Nigerians for weeks have been warning investors of the possible crash of the scheme.

Last week, a Twitter user @iamjonado warned that was a ticking time bomb. He tweeted, “86Fb or 86 FOOTBALL like y’all know it is a big-time BOMB.

The “makedup” Ponzi scheme in form of investment has found its way through Whatsapp groups, telegram, Facebook and even Twitter has been greeted with the emergence of a sudden high paying investment platform” he tweeted

The company claims to be owned by City Football Group (owners of Manchester City Football Club), but according to the Twitter user “None has any link with “86Fb” or 86FOOTBALL TECHNOLOGY LIMITED which is their registered name with the Nigerian corporate affairs commission. I went as far as searching on all the “City football Group” subsidiary companies, from the data I gathered, they only have 6!”

Late Monday, other users began warning of its eventual crash. @cj_okay_01 said, “86fb don crash Nigerians please can we all agree that any platform that pays you for doing nothing is scam You do the math. Even if it’s N100 to get N150. Nobody will give you money for doing nothing The earlier you learn a real skill The better for you”

@Mazipita said: “Chinmark failed and eloped with people’s money, some people still invested their money in 86FB ponzi scheme which has failed too. Some of us deserve what we are getting for being foolish”

Some warned Nigerians to be aware of such schemes, as any platform that pays you for doing nothing is a scam and definitely a Ponzi scheme.

Today the platform has been trending on social media with users insisting that the scheme may have crashed with investors’ money at risk. Videos have also emerged of investors storming the office of the platform demanding a refund of their money.

What you should know

• Nigerians have recently been exposed to rising cases of Ponzi schemes, which are often pervasive during periods of the economic crunch.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed serious concern over the resurgence of Ponzi schemes and illegal fund managers in the country’s financial sector
• The commission had earlier warned stakeholders and the investing public against the activities of some unlawful/unlicensed market operators and promoters of fraudulent schemes as they listed 12 fraudulent Ponzi schemes with bogus investment and return claims.
• SEC had also read the riot act vowed to clamp down on illegal capital market operators, especially operators of Ponzi Schemes as the commission has identified their activities as a huge problem for the economy and the country in general.