CBEX scam: Nigerians, other users locked out from savings platform

Nigerians across different social media platforms have begun to quantify their losses after a digital asset trading platform called CBEX  locked them out of their accounts. The platform has allegedly drained over $809 million from its investors’ accounts. 

Investors were sold the same old scam story: if they put money in the company, their money would double every month. 

Some users have put up videos of themselves crying because they couldn’t withdraw money from their accounts and were afraid it was gone. One user said, ” I was invited to CBEX all in the name of making enough money […] only to wake up today and discover that all my $4000 is gone”

An angry customer broke into a CBEX office in Ibadan in the southwest of the country and stole chairs, air units, and a solar panel. 

Others are still holding on to the thought that there could be technical issues. Those who made complaints on the private messaging service Telegram received responses from CBEX. They were told that the problem resulted from a hack and that things will be resolved soon. 

The worst mistake you will make is to make this payment to CBEX. Na second billing be this.

If you dey street, you go understand 🤣 pic.twitter.com/4ro5Etgw7S

— IRUNNIA (@Irunnia_) April 14, 2025

Meanwhile, CBEX has locked its Telegram channels and postponed its withdrawals while giving investors the lifeline of $2,000 for $200 verification and $1,000 for $100 verification.

CBEX was designed to appear like ByBit

The platform was a scam from the get-go. It was not a licensed platform and was designed to look like ByBit, which is a real trade platform.

In addition, they built the website to be weak so that users would think it was a security breach in the future. In addition, when users send money into a TRX account, the platform’s runners immediately withdraw it from the TRX wallet, convert it to USDT and then to ETH. 

Data has shown that the money was moved to a TRX address, and the total volume stolen in USDT is over $800 million.

This explains why there is no money on users’ pages when they log into their accounts. There are only numbers there. Every trade made by AI is fake. They send users someone else’s money when it’s time to cash out.

CBEX admin just moved 822 million dollars (Over 1 trillion Naira) into a private ETH wallet pic.twitter.com/9iar4ZH1BV

— Judebest O (@JudebestO) April 15, 2025

This is not a first for Nigerians. For some, it reminds them of a popular Ponzi scheme called MMM. It froze its transactions, bringing losses to many. Members were supposed to receive a 30% return on their investment in just 30 days, just like CBEX’s duration.

Nigeria’s SEC sets new regulations 

Nigeria’s SEC made it clear that, according to the ISA 2025 that President Bola Tinubu just signed, it is now illegal for any organization to run an online forex trading platform or offer related services without first registering with the commission.

In a statement, it said, “By virtue of this Act, it is an offence in Nigeria for any entity that is not registered by the commission to carry out the business of online foreign exchange trading platforms or related services.”

“Any business entity with the plan of setting up a business in any of these areas is advised to visit the HOD DRM Department of the commission for further direction on how to register with the commission to avoid sanctions,”  it added.

Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the director general of the commission, said that the new rule was “a landmark step toward making Nigeria’s capital market more inclusive, robust, and in line with best practices around the world.” The commission reaffirmed its commitment to supporting innovation while maintaining strict oversight. 

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