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Tom Muleya Fraud Insight
Despite several public warning by the police and the country’s regulating authorities, people are falling “Big Time” to Money pyramids.
July 2023 will be remembered in history as one of the biggest pyramid scam styled E-Creator that swept across the country leading to massive losses of money to participants.
Pyramid scams are coming in various and diverse packaging that appear so lucrative.
What is so disturbing is that as the police we started to warn people about recurrence of pyramids early this year as proactive measure to curb the scourge, but still people gave a deaf ear.
To date people are counting their losses in a scam where more than 550 people were hit and more reports are still coming.
The most crucial question is, “Why are people falling for pyramid scams despite the warning and education?
The reasons could be many but the following suffice as the chief reasons leading to people being duped;
One of reason is that people think the police does not want them to make money and realise profits.
In other ways people give a deaf ear to the free education and warning on crime awareness because they view and think the police are interfering with their opportunity to make huge profits .
The other reason is gullibility or greediness. Elwyn Brooks White once said, “People are very gullible. They will believe anything they see in print.”
Let me also try to go biblical because I believe everything that happens under the sun is already in the Bible.
It said in the book of 1Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil [crime]: which while some coveted after [gullibility], they have erred from faith [business principles], and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” [became victims due to own actions], emphasis in brackets mine.
So you see, gullibility which is that oversized ego or desire for money is reason victims abound.
Some people become victims due to ignorance, which may be ignorance to law, or ignorance as to nature of business. People then take chances even though they may be evident manifestation of risk or danger of losing out, in the purported “make quick money investment”.
On another hand, it is not even ignorance but deliberate violation of law. People know the scheme is illegally yet they continue to take part.
Social media evades people’s reasoning. The fact that something is advertised on social media, people fall for it. Even the smallest lie is greatly valued on social media.
The other reason is due to the fact that certain individuals who are used as bait in pyramid fraud actually get some benefits. So their testimony is used to convince more others who are then scammed.
Participate in the fight against fraud and cybercrimes and create a safe environment and crime free Zimbabwe. Never enable crime to thrive but prevent it. Watch out for the next issue.
Tom Muleya is a Detective Assistant Inspector working under the CID Commercial Crimes Division. He is also a member of the National Cyber Security Awareness Taskforce, Zimbabwe. Feedback, WhatsApp line: 0772 764 043, or e-mail:[email protected].
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