One of the risk I took 2025 was investing in a ponzi scheme , this is not an experience I'm proud of sharing.
2025 was going smoothly until I decided to engage in a ponzi scheme. It took me a long time to open up about this financial mistake because it was something I was ashame of for a while, I kept it a secret for a long time .The circumstances surrounding me influenced me to do it, but now I see it as a lesson and I'm grateful I learnt it.
The pressure to join an investment platform, that I knew was a big scam from the beginning, started when I needed money to feed my birds and do other things , I was running out of cash to run my business and only had money for two bags of feeds , instead of asking for help, which was going to come with zero cost from my family and friends, I decided to invest in a ponzi scheme, because I heard countless testimonies from my colleagues.
I knew the risk and loss involved in investing in such scheme but i insisted, I would have followed my instincts and not invest but I insisted on investing on a ponzi scheme, I decided to take a risk , ignoring the countless doubts I had about this investment platform, but I insisted on investing because I needed more money and a free money would go a long way in increasing my capital, so I decided to take the risk and give it a try.
That afternoon, I remembered the constant advert and promotion my colleagues kept making about a ponzi scheme and I told myself it was the perfect time to invest and make extra money for bird feeds, I just needed to get extra bags for the rest of the weeks before sales and I was exhausted of spending too.
I kept the decision a secret, I never told my siblings to avoid advise and I didn't want to be withheld by anyone or entertain discouragement .
I made my first investment, my first investment was doubled in a week, the money doubled and I kept wondering how it happened , this was too good to be true, the alert was surprising, because I was scared and had doubts.
The profit was so sweet, that I began to promote a ponzi scheme, I used the money to get extra bags of feeds , settled my needs and invested extra money and yes, I got more money the next week .
I understood the game at this point , I knew it was going to come to a end, so anyone I brought into this business , I try as much as I can to educate them about the risk and the need to be careful and I never invested more than #40,000, made sure I get the capital I invested before thinking of a fresh investment.
There were countless charming plans on the platforms and they keep persuading people to invest, I knew this was all a set up and I did well to advise everyone I involved, but one person invested a huge amount of money, because he trusted me and it was really hard for me to forgive myself, because I felt I did wrong bringing others into this scam project.
So many things came to my mind and i wasn't at peace.
As expected the ponzi scheme crashed leaving many people in pain including those that promoted the business, it happened like a dream, I invested some money before it crashed, but it didn't get to me, because I already profited from them, but then the call from my friend broke me , he invested a huge sum of money before it crashed and I was speechless, I regretted inviting him, I regretted everything from the beginning and felt really bad, although he didn't get to him so bad , he said, he have lost more in Forest and that was little but I felt really bad for inviting him, regretted telling him too and I was angry he didn't follow my instructions too.
I had other regrets last year, but this particular one broke me , taught me lessons too, what if I had invested more and it crashed, that would have been really heartbreaking.
If I have another opportunity to make money from ponzi scheme, I won't and I will not get other people involved because it's a risk and a scam.
Picture is Ai generated.