The increasing interest in forex trading in Nigeria has impacted the lives of most traders positively. Most investors carry out their transactions themselves through mobile platforms that offer forex trading services. Some of these investors have fallen victim to forex scams due to one reason or the other. OctaFX, an international Forex broker, released a white paper that assessed the Nigerian forex market. The paper discussed the key players and drivers in Nigeria’s forex market with an extensive discussion on the threats to mainstream participation, one of which is forex scam.
According to a survey conducted by OctaFX, 82.4% of the respondents admitted having fallen victim to forex scams with 41.9% attributing it to their expectation of quick and easy money while 11.2% attributed it to incorrect copy-trading mechanisms. The number of people who have fallen victim is on the high side, which brings to bear the need to educate forex traders on how they can avoid falling victims.
Putting it in context of the amounts lost, 39.5% of the respondents were victims and they were scammed of amounts within the range of N10, 100 to N50,000. Only 2.5% reported to have been scammed of the sum of N150,100 and above. These statistics may seem insignificant, but if you consider the fact that the rate of forex participation is on the increase, one can only assume that the rate of scams will also be on the increase.
Even though forex scammers evolve with the market, most of their schemes centre around making fraudulent offers to unsuspecting investors. This is done through emails, in-app advertisements, blogs, and social media platforms.
On the bright side, there are countermeasures that traders can take to avoid forex scams. Some of these measures include trading on a secure platform like OctaFX. Traders must also educate themselves on the different aspects of forex trading to avoid being captivated by unrealistic offers that are made by scammers.
Read more in the report that is now available for download here.
About OctaFX
OctaFX is a global broker providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charity and humanitarian initiatives, including improving educational infrastructure, short-notice relief projects, and support of local communities and small to medium enterprises. In Nigeria, it managed to capture the ‘Best ECN Broker’ award by World Finance and the ‘Best Forex Broker Nigeria 2022’ award by Global Banking and Finance Review.
