Following the recent event of the CBEX investment scam that defrauded thousands of Nigerians of about N1.3 trillion, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has issued a strong warning to agencies, advertisers, media owners, content creators, influencers, business owners and private individuals against the dissemination of misleading content.

The council said a special compliance task force has been established to monitor advertisement across platforms and to identify and flag non-compliant content.

Director-General of ARCON, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, in a statement yesterday reaffirmed the council’s commitment and unrelenting efforts to protect Nigerian citizens from harmful, deceptive and unethical advertising practices.

Fadolapo expressed concern over the rising trend of misleading advertisements, particularly on digital platforms.

He emphasised that such contents deceive the public, exploit their trust, and expose them to both financial and emotional harm.

“One recent and painful example is the CBEX Ponzi scheme, which was aggressively promoted through misleading and unverified advertising claims,” he noted, adding, “This scheme lured thousands of Nigerians with false promises of guaranteed returns, only for many to lose their hard-earned money to fraudulent operators.

“Such tragedies show the importance of vetting advertising materials for honesty, transparency and compliance with ethical standards before dissemination.”

According to him, the CBEX incident underscores the urgent need for stricter regulation and ethical conduct within the advertising industry.

He also added that the era of unchecked and deceptive advertising is over.

“Let it be made unequivocally clear,” he said, “ARCON will have its eyes on every platform, and we will no longer condone a culture where advertisers or agencies deliberately mislead the public to serve personal or commercial interests.”

ARCON reiterated that all individuals and entities involved in advertising must operate within its regulatory framework, adding that regardless of whatever platform is used, all advertisements targeted at the Nigerian public fall under its jurisdiction.

“Social media is not an unregulated space. Influencers and content creators advertising products or services are required to obtain prior approval of the advertisements before exposure,” it said.