EOCO cautions the public against Loom

The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on Friday warned the public against the patronage of a recently emerged online investment trend called Loom.

A statement signed by Jacqueline Avotri, Head of Public Affairs, EOCO, said the Loom was a scam and the general public should desist from investing and patronizing their products, adding that anyone who transacted business with the Loom did that at their own risk.

The statement said the fraudulent online business operates by getting people to recruit other people to invest money into the network, using a pyramid selling scheme.

The statement said the scheme operates in a circle where each time a new person was recruited older investors were pushed closer to the center of the circle where they were promised a payout.

It said, however, if investors failed to recruit new investors to help them get to the centre of the circle they lose their capital invested.

“There is no actual product coming from the scheme; it is only beneficial for persons who get in early because everyone pays up the chain, it is just a pyramid scheme in disguise, they explained.”

The statement cautioned that the scheme was targeted at younger people, who were willing to part away with money on the cyber space.

It said the Loom was first discovered in the United Kingdom and was now circulating across the globe with different names such as Loom Circle, Fractal Mandala, Blessing Loom and Money Nigeria.

They stated that the public was previously warned by the Security and Exchange Commission on June 11, that the Loom was not licensed to operate in the capital market.

EOCO assured the public that in line with its mandate to prevent and detect organised crime it would continue to monitor developments with online investments to ensure that citizens were protected from scammers and fraudsters.

Source: GNA