Thousands of Liberians have fallen prey and lost millions of Liberian and United States dollars across the country to an online platform identified as “SMART AI Limited” through a scam.
Late Sunday, August 13, 2023, according to some of the victims, several citizens, who were doing the online business with the platform, realized that the company had shut down and they could not access their various accounts opened through Lonestar Cell MTN and Orange Liberia.
But prior to the closure of the platform, thousands of Liberians who suffered from the scam game explained that the activity is a Crypto Currency business which deals with online marketing through Orange and Lonestar GSM companies.
They added that the company had a six-digit deposit code with Orange Liberia, 399477, while the Lonestar deposit number is 0880667847 with a name, Pah Leah attached with a few other numbers.
Accordingly, a few citizens won and cashed out some cash, while others refused to cash out theirs and kept increasing their incomes, with the belief that their monies would not have been tampered with.
It is said that the General Manager of the company is not from the United States, contrary to SMART AI’s claims, but rather he is from Mexico as proved by the cell number, +505-487-7376.
However, after the company shockingly shut down, many of the victims blamed the Liberian government for its alleged failure to protect its citizens from a scam online business. They stated that the government’s alleged failure has caused a huge loss of millions of dollars for its people.
According to the latest fraud victims, there was no reason to have doubted the legitimacy of SMART AI on ground that the company was operating through Orange and Lonestar, including the display of a notarized certificate believed to have been obtained from the Liberia Business Registry (LBR).
The citizens also indicated that they all got convinced to continue working with the platform for the fact that they could still see their monies in their accounts, while advertising online, sharing links to encourage others to join, and they were promised both a part-time and full-time employment status along with a promise to travel to the US.
In a more frustrating situation, the victims, in separate tones disclosed that some of them had deposited L$500,000, others thousands of United States dollars, crying that the monies were intended for their children’s school fees, markets, and were savings from social clubs and churches.
In furtherance, many of the citizens, who had fallen victim to this scam game in Monrovia and other parts of the country, staged a protest action against the government at the headquarters of the Liberia National Police (LNP). They vowed to continue their protest until they can get redress from President George Weah’s administration.