The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has raised a warning regarding a rise in fake investment scams in Nigeria that use artificial intelligence capabilities to defraud unknowing customers.
The public has been advised by the authority to remain alert and to stay away from websites promoting improbable profits via ostensibly AI-powered trading systems.
The SEC notes that some of these scams use deepfake films, algorithm-driven material, and phony celebrity endorsements to generate credibility illusions. CBEX, Silverkuun, and TOFRO were lately marked as unauthorized operators employing cutting-edge technology to mislead the public with manufactured claims of assured returns and zero-risk investments.
The News Chronicle learnt that conventional fraud detection systems are getting more challenging to keep up as deepfakes and created digital endorsements rise. This explains why the SEC is increasing monitoring.
Investing in predictive monitoring systems and working with companies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), can help to enhance the commission is improving its real-time tracking and shutdown capability for these frauds.
Apart from enforcement, the SEC is using social media sites to stop the proliferation of false advertising as well as warn influencers and online content creators against encouraging unauthorized financial products. The regulator cautioned offenders that legal action or penalties would follow.
Investors have been urged to verify the registration status of any financial platform on the SEC’s official website, which keeps an updated list of licensed market operators. Any plan guaranteeing amazing returns or using modified footage of public figures should be regarded as a warning sign, the regulator stressed.
The SEC hopes to keep ahead of changing digital threats and shield Nigerian investors from the risks of AI-powered financial fraud by shifting from reactive supervision to predictive control.
