Rwandans are increasingly losing money to pyramid schemes which promise them higher returns Rwanda Today has learnt that more Rwandans are becoming vulnerable to such schemes partly due to loss of stable sources of income during the pandemic.

For instance, Yvonne Mutoni (not real names), told Rwanda Today that she has so far lost at least Rwf6.7 million a­fter she had been convinced by trickstars at Blessing, a ponzi scheme recently blacklisted by Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) that the amount would be multiplied five times, after recruiting eight more people.

“I was hesitant at first but then I started seeing how people who joined before me quickly made millions in just weeks.

They really gave people unbelievably huge amounts of money at first to trick more victims into signing up. I regret having believed them,” Mutoni said. But Mutoni is not alone. Alex Mugabo (not real names), who was a member of Ujama United Family which was recently blacklisted by RIB, was tricked into "investing" Rwf 500,000, and promised to earn Rwf 4 million a­fter three weeks.

Mugabo told Rwanda Today that he was desperate to find a source of income a­fter he lost his job in July due the Covid-19 pandemic. He has a family of four who rely on him.

Among the blacklisted pyramid schemes are the Ebenezer Family that is based in Kigali. In three weeks of operation, 600 people had already signed up and paid Rwf50,000 each with promises to get Rwf400,000. Only 80 members were given the money before the scheme was crushed.

One of the cofounders of the Ebenezer Family Helene Rutangegwa. told Rwanda Today that their intent was to help people and that they never expected the project to go out of hand as it did. The cofounder noted that it is impossible because all the invested money was given to the early 80 investors. Recently, RIB announced that six companies including Ujama United Family, Tuzamurane, Blessing, StakexChain Rwanda Ltd, CHY mall, 7th Generation Network and Economy Driver were fraudulent and six people involved had already been arrested.

RIB cautioned Rwandans against joining “the schemes are aimed at fraudulent robbery and are illegal in Rwanda. It has urged people who have been involved in the money laundering business to withdraw from the schemes.