A lot has happened on Facebook in the last few years. We’ve been here to watch it all. One of the most profound and most reoccurring is the introduction and imminent disappearance of investment schemes, and more often than not, with huge sums unaccounted for.

It’s easy to understand how this practice managed to record that much success. Influence.

The owners of these businesses always hired influencers to, you know, influence the businesses. This is not new. It’s been on TV and billboards since way before I could read. But Facebook was (is) a bit different, and I’ll tell you why.

Mark calls us friends, and somehow, we’ve come to believe that we are. Even when we don’t chat with many people out here, we create relationships that can allow us to say that we actually know these people. We share our stories. We believe them.

Sometime last month, even with all the happenings, I read a post from someone whose opinion I really respect out here. I will try to imitate the post.

“I used to think Ponzi schemes were fraudulent acts till I understood how these things work. It really is interesting…”

(THIS IS AN IMITATION!)

Now, at this point, I was hooked. I probably would not go pumping my money (my hard-earned imaginary money) into Ponzi, but I was suddenly interested in it. It must be really interesting If this person says it is.

So it’s not like seeing Nadia Buhari on a billboard, smiling with a body cream in her hands. It’s more like hearing your uncle, who is a successful businessman, tell you that this product is the new gold. And so it begins.

Reading down the post, I got to the part that said…

“Xyddg is organizing a masterclass to teach the intricacies of Ponzi and how to win at it. I have already booked my spot…”

So I said to myself, hol’ up. This is a sales copy. The influencer most probably didn’t book anything, but that’s what they’re paid to do. It’s the business of influencing.

So the same person that wrote about how he was in an accident or how her life changed when she learnt to love herself, and we believed all of it, could also write about how a product worked for them, a product they’ve never even used. How then do we differentiate what is true from sales strategies?

It would be clearer if adverts had a distinct pattern as we see on TV. That way, everyone knows it’s just a commercial. But that won’t produce the desired result, so business owners won’t pay much for it.

I don’t see a solution here except for us to understand and remember that Facebook calls us friends, but you can only truly know anyone out here to an extent. An influencer’s word is not due diligence. When it comes to your money, go out of your way to learn and understand what you’re getting into. Then trust yourself to know whether to invest or not. Let that choice be yours, make you no blame another person tomorrow.

By the way, make una begin invest in me. I’m the product and I’m going higher by the day. Your favorite crypto coins no go see my back when I blow. Account number dey comment box. 😐