Recently our Intel team came across an investment platform making the rounds on the internet called Darolls Investment, and we decided to do a deep dive. Also, this review will serve as a quick guide on how to appraise an investment platform.
The first step is to look and critically review the investment offer. Darolls promises to pay 10% of the principal sum invested at the end of the month and repay the principal at the end of 3 months or whatever extended period is agreed.
A good benchmark to compare investments in the country is the Monetary policy rate. The Central Bank sets it and usually, government debt instruments like bonds and treasury bills pay interest at this rate. The current rate is 11.5% per year, if you divide that by 12 months you get 0.96% per month. As a rule, any investment platform offering you a figure that is way above this might likely be a scam. Darolls is promising 10% per month, this should make any investor pause and ask more questions. Also, high returns are associated with high risk and low returns are associated with low risk, but we find Darolls offering high returns with the statement “With Darolls investment you are assured of steady investment income payment and security of your investment capital”
Another thing we found that was off was on the testimonial section of the website.
We find an investor named Oluwagbemi V.O claim “I have a dozen different investments around the world and Darolls rank among the absolute best.“
A quick visit to another website dsigate.com that specializes in providing free learning content, owned by Darolls, reveals a testimonial with the same name.
Are we now to believe our world-class investor with different investments around the world is learning courses such as copier repair on a free course platform?
Another worrying indicator was the status of the company. A search of the company on the CAC portal revealed its status as inactive.
What this means is that the fillings of its annual returns at the CAC are not up to date. Without annual filings, it is hard to tell if a company is still in business or being run properly.
From the foregoing, we don’t think it is wise to invest in such a platform. Furthermore, you should always seek the advice of an investment professional when considering an investment.