SGK Pyramid Scheme Collapses in Lesotho, Victims Lose Millions to Digital Marketing Scam
- An app called SGK promised daily returns to Lesotho investors who watched video adverts and recruited others to the platform
- Lesotho's Financial Intelligence Unit traced at least M8.6 million funnelled through 11 local bank accounts before the money vanished overseas
- The scheme used church leaders, workplace colleagues and fake storefronts to appear legitimate before locking users out entirely
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A digital platform that promised easy daily income has collapsed in Lesotho, leaving hundreds of people, and possibly thousands, out of pocket after sinking their savings into what turned out to be a pyramid scheme.
The platform, known as SGK, operated through a mobile application. Users were told they could earn guaranteed daily returns simply by watching and rating ten short video advertisements from well-known global brands. The promise was straightforward, and the early payouts were real enough to draw in more participants. People were encouraged to upgrade their accounts with larger deposits or recruit family, friends and colleagues in exchange for referral bonuses. Some individuals invested as much as M80,000 (equivalent to R80,000).
How the SGK scam unravelled
Once the scheme had built enough trust, withdrawals were abruptly frozen. Operators told users the system was undergoing routine auditing. They then demanded "activation fees" and fake income tax payments before eventually locking everyone out of their accounts entirely.
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According to the report, Lesotho's Financial Intelligence Unit traced at least M8.6 million that passed through 11 local bank accounts between late 2025 and April 2026. The money was moved out of Lesotho quickly, either through overseas cash withdrawals or by converting it into cryptocurrency via payment gateways in Bahrain. The FIU described the operation as "faceless" and international, with the ultimate beneficiaries still unidentified.
Local people used as cover
The scheme leaned heavily on social media, particularly TikTok and Facebook, to recruit victims. It also exploited trusted community networks, drawing in church leaders and workplace colleagues to spread the word.
To create a sense of local credibility, operators pushed participants to register companies with "SGK" in the name and open physical storefronts. Several locals were hired under fake "financial assistant" contracts to handle transfers, unaware they were acting as money mules. After the platform collapsed, those store managers and public figures who had previously endorsed SGK faced fierce backlash from investors desperate to recover what they had lost.
More on Basotho nationals
- Briefly News recently reported on three Lesotho nationals abandoning their bail applications over the Jumpers informal settlement mass shooting that left 13 people dead.
- Wits University's Basotho Society gave a masterclass on traditional Sotho blankets during their Kobo Day celebration, teaching many South Africans something new.
- Travellers heading to Afriski Mountain Resort built their own makeshift road to clear a traffic jam on a Lesotho mountain pass, with South Africans cheering their teamwork.
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Source: Briefly News
