Tears, Anger, Mocking, As Nigerians Lose Billions Again To New Ponzi Schemes NRC, TAG
Affected Nigerians are reacting with frustration after two online investment platforms, National Reading Culture (NRC), and TAG, reportedly crashed, leaving many patrons stranded and unable to access their funds.
Losses are estimated by analysts to be in billions of naira.
Angry victims of the collapsed TAG Ponzi scheme stormed the company’s Port Harcourt office and carted away items after losing their investments.
Reports also claim TAG crashed a day before NRC, with allegations that both schemes are linked to the same owner.
The development comes barely two months after another online investment platform, XM Future Music Group crashed, sparking outrage and concern among social media users after many subscribers were locked out of their accounts.
NRC operated as a task-based earning platform that required users to pay money to carry out simple daily tasks, with the promise of receiving heavily inflated and guaranteed returns.
A check by Tribune Online on Tuesday night showed that the scheme’s website, nrc.cc, was no longer accessible as of the time of filing this report.
The platform was founded in 2023 and claimed to have its headquarters in the United States.
Reacting to the development in a post on X on Tuesday, a user, @Oma22k, whose associate was a victim, wrote, “So, NRC has crashed.
“The funny thing is, someone had been seriously persuading me to join. She wanted me to register, but I refused. She explained everything, but I still wasn’t convinced.
“She even went ahead and registered me with her own money, expecting me to pay her back later. I simply told her, ‘Take the account and manage it yourself. I’m not interested.’
“From that day, she stopped talking to me.
“I just heard that the platform has crashed, and people have lost their money. The painful part is that people hardly ever learn. Give it some time, another platform will come with a different name, make the same promises, and many people will still rush into it.’”
Another user, @Babak17484770, wrote, “NRC don scam me oohh @DSS, @EFCC, @ICPC, help me ohh, money don dey go, make una help me call ham back.”
“I did NRC today with borrowed money and it’s closed today as well😭😞🤦 This is just bad luck. My enemy is finished 🤦 God help,” @FineYorubaboi lamented.
@Alexanderlinda wrote, “Told my mom since the first day that this NRC earning platform is a scam. Now it has crashed😭😭😭😭😭😭.”
“So NRC is gone too😂😂 Funny thing is many victims knew it was a ponzi scheme and they went ahead to do it,” @design_ghudy tweeted.
The platform had reportedly lured users with promises of huge returns of up to 100 per cent within 30 days, claiming participants could make money by listening to music and completing online tasks.
