Dozens suffer losses in sham cryptocurrency scheme in Masaka
Dozens of people in Masaka district are counting losses after investing in a sham a cryptocurrency business scheme. Dunamiscoin Resources Limited opened in Masaka town in November this year and started enrolling clients on its digital currency network.
However, several people are crying foul after learning that the company, which has been operating on Laston Business Centre in Masaka town has closed shop. Joseph Musiitwa Natakemula, who operates a boutique next to the closed offices, says they found the offices empty when they turned up work for work last Thursday.
He explains that the company employees have been luring several people to join their network with promises of up to 40 per cent interest on their cash deposits. Musiitwa says the company has been recruiting clients through mobile money agents around town who would direct clients to their offices.
He says, besides directly obtaining money from unsuspecting clients, Musiitwa says that the company had also recruited at least 50 local employees to work as marketing executives, cashiers, marketing managers, offices assistants, receptionists and banking managers among others.
John Marry Ssemujju, who is in his senior six vacation, has been working as a salesperson for Dunamiscoin. He says the company fleeced them of all the money they paid for interviews and registration, with promises of paying them high-interest rates in dollars.
He explains that besides luring them to open accounts with the company, each of the applicants was asked to pay Shs 20,000 for registration, only to find the office deserted the following morning when they turned up for work.
Herman Ssentongo, the Masaka resident district commissioner has ordered for security surveillance of the company offices in a bid to apprehend some of the operators to help them recover the lost money. He has called upon all victims to come out and register complaints with security to help them follow up the matter.
Efforts to speak to any official of Dunamiscoin failed to yield results as all phone contacts on their marketing brochures were unavailable. Notably, Bank of Uganda has severally warned Ugandans to be extra cautious with such Ponzi schemes, saying they are not regulated and monitored in the country.
In a related development, another cryptocurrency company, Global Cyprocurrency Uganda has reportedly conned over 200 victims out of Shs 4.4 billion. According to a report by the New Vision, although the company had collected over Shs 10 billion from over 1,000 clients from its 13 branches countrywide, last month, the company wired $1.2m (about Shs 4.4 billion) to a foreign account leaving just Shs 105 million on its bank accounts in three local banks.
The proprietors including Andrew Kaggwa have since been arrested by the Internal Security Organisation after complaints from some army officials who’d invested over Shs 1 billion in the company with the hope of getting 40 per cent interest.
Source: observer.ug/
