EDITORIAL: People should be wary of get-rich-quick schemes

There is this trait in human nature of easily falling prey to the enticing idea of striking it rich without sweat. Nowadays it is very common to find crowds – most of them young – hanging around betting shops, placing wagers on football teams they know nothing about. When one hits the jackpot, those not so lucky go into a betting frenzy waiting impatiently for the results. It has become very addictive The gambling craze is worldwide but there is no guarantee of striking gold. So what happens when someone comes up with a scheme where everyone is a winner? That is the case of the D9 Club that promised to pay out between five and eight per cent every week depending on the amount of money people deposited on a certain account. Unlike other pyramid schemes that pay depending on the hierarchical order, the D9 Club’s operation was more or less a reverse loan sharking operation. But there was a high probability that the people behind it could vanish into thin air leaving their gullible clients holding the horseless reins. Pyramid or Ponzi schemes are not new in the country. In the past others that went by the name of Tianshi and QuestNet were nipped in the bud before they could cause harm. This time the National Bank of Rwanda did well to intervene in a timely manner, but there is need to go beyond just giving out warnings. The general public should be made aware of these too-good-to-be-true scams. People should be enlightened on how to identify the intricate swindling plots, but, most importantly, efforts should be made to bring those behind them to book.

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EDITORIAL: People should be wary of get-rich-quick schemes