On April 30, 2025, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a fraud warning against ToFro, an unregistered online cryptocurrency trading platform, labeling it a suspected Ponzi scheme, as reported by various sources including the official SEC notice and BBC News Pidgin. The SEC highlighted ToFro’s operations as exhibiting classic Ponzi indicators, such as promises of unusually high returns, heavy reliance on referral systems for payouts, and failure to honor withdrawal requests, per. The platform, operating under domains like tofro.com and cryptex-vip.com, is not licensed to solicit investments or function within Nigeria’s capital market, per. X posts from @Tawkcrypto and @NigeriaStories amplified the warning, urging investors to avoid it, per.
ToFro is linked to the MTS Foundation “click a button” app Ponzi scheme, which used bogus trading signals to lure investors, per the article. The MTS Foundation website was disabled in August 2025, and ToFro’s sites are assumed non-functional, though they remain online, per. Investigations by the SEC reveal ToFro targets users with deceptive crypto trading promises, similar to other “click a button” scams that collapsed, leaving victims unable to withdraw funds, per. The SEC advises verifying platforms via its portal at www.sec.gov.ng/cmos before investing, emphasizing that any engagement with ToFro is at the user’s own risk, per. This aligns with broader Nigerian efforts to combat Ponzi schemes, including the EFCC’s investigations into similar platforms like CBEX, per.
The SEC’s warning underscores the risks of unregulated crypto schemes in Nigeria, where Ponzi losses have exceeded N1.7 trillion ($1.1B) over the years, per. ToFro’s model, promising high returns through referrals without legitimate backing, mirrors global scams but exploits local economic pressures, per. X posts from @AssureDefi list ToFro among recent fraud alerts, including CBEX and PWAN MAX, highlighting the need for due diligence, per. Regulatory actions like the Investments and Securities Act (ISA 2025) impose severe penalties, including 10-year imprisonment and N40M fines for operators, per. Investors should report suspicious platforms to the SEC or EFCC to prevent further losses, per.
The ToFro alert signals ongoing vigilance in Nigeria’s crypto space, where unregistered platforms continue to proliferate despite bans, per. Bitcoin (BTC) ($113,234) and Ethereum (ETH) ($4,070) remain stable globally, but local scams like ToFro erode trust, per CoinMarketCap. Diversify into regulated assets like USDC with stop-losses below BTC’s $112,000, and verify via sec.gov.ng, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. With SEC crackdowns intensifying, 2025 could see fewer scams but require investor education to avoid “get-rich-quick” traps, per.
