The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has declared Obelisk a multiplication scheme after about 4,000 participants from eight WhatsApp groups lost R112 million in an alleged scheme selling bitcoin mining machines.
This comes after the NCC received complaints from consumers alleging that the promoters of Obelisk have financially swindled them.
According to a statement released on Friday, the complainants allege that close friends and relatives, who persuaded them to purchase a “bitcoin mining machine” from Obelisk to generate daily income, recruited them.
These machines, according to the participants, cost between R340 and R450,000.
“Participants were recruited on social media platforms, such as Facebook, where they were required to make a minimal investment. Upon joining and making an initial investment, they were added to different Obelisk WhatsApp groups.
“Some participants received minimal returns to lure them into making more investments.”
The members, according to the NCC, allege that the problem started when they invested bigger amounts and were unable to make any withdrawals.
“When confronting the operators about the inability to make withdrawals, they were blocked from the system and removed from the WhatsApp group.”
According to the NCC’s preliminary findings, Obelisk is a multiplication scheme.
The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) states that a multiplication scheme is an arrangement where a person offers, promises, or guarantees any participant…