Is this platform real?

1. Verify it on the SEC register, not the platform's own claims

   Nigeria's Investments and Securities Act, 2025 requires every operator to register with the SEC before it can legally promote investments or collect public funds. The SEC's own public directory lets anyone search by company name: sec.gov.ng/for-investors/find-a-registered-operator. If a platform does not appear there, it is not authorised to collect investments in Nigeria, no matter how polished the app or the website looks.

2. Treat a guaranteed high return as the answer, not a detail to weigh

   The SEC's own guidance names this as the clearest single warning sign: extraordinary returns promised with no clear business model behind them. Real investing carries real risk. A number promised with no risk attached is not a generous offer, it is the tell.

3. Ask how the last person got paid

   Some schemes pay early participants using money from new participants, not from any underlying business activity. That works only as long as new money keeps arriving, and it always stops. If nobody can explain, in plain terms, where the return actually comes from, that silence is the answer.

4. Find out who actually owns and runs it

   A registered operator's SEC listing shows a real company name, its CAC registration, and named compliance officers, not just an app icon or a social media handle. If a platform's ownership is unclear, hidden behind an offshore shell, or changes explanation depending on who is asking, that opacity is itself a red flag the SEC specifically calls out.

5. Recognise recruitment dressed up as investing

   If getting paid depends on bringing in new participants rather than an investment performing, the recruitment is the product, not the returns. This pattern shows up often in unlicensed forex and crypto platforms marketed heavily on social media.

Sourced from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria's public guidance and registered-operator directory, checked July 2026. This is education, not financial advice. It never names a platform to avoid, only how to check any platform yourself. From Naira Journal, July 2026.