Thousands of UAE residents have lost their life savings in investment plans, which turned out to be Ponzi schemes, or fraud. In just a little over three years, around 25,000 people have been duped out of roughly Dh2.5 billion, as stated in a Gulf News report published on Sunday.
When asked online, four out of ten respondents were scammed at one point in time.
These people are not alone. According to a report published by Forbes magazine, in the six-year span from 2008 to 2013, over 500 Ponzi schemes collectively involved over $50 billion (Dh183.7 billion) of investors’ money globally. Such is the lure of easy money that a fraud scheme was uncovered every four days in that six-year period.
Many experts have credited the skill of the individual running the scheme and people’s greed for such fraud to occur consistently. Do you agree? Or do you think there is another reason for such bogus schemes to continue? Share your views at readers@gulfnews.com.
