New “Almost Venezuela” scam puts the Venezuelan community at risk

Published at: 25/03/2026 10:00 PM

In an effort to protect citizens inside and outside the country, a public alert has been issued about the resurgence of fraudulent schemes that use Venezuelan opposition politics as a cover to illegally collect funds.

Under the slogan “Almost Venezuela Now”, this initiative has been identified as a pyramid scam that seeks to exploit desperation and the induced desire to “end the dictatorship”. At the forefront of these scams are Iván Simonovis, Erik Prince and María Corina Machado.

The scheme works in a similar way to other known financial frauds. Promoters contact potential victims through social networks, offering the opportunity to “invest” in a supposed strategy to “end the dictatorship”.

Promises of freedom, with which they use a patriotic discourse to attract Venezuelans in the United States and other countries.

Pyramid structure, with which it encourages users to recruit more people. As in any scam of this type, only those at the “top” make a profit, while the base's contributors lose their money.

False guarantees that a supposed money-back button (on the web) is mentioned in case of inaction, which, according to complaints, is non-existent.

Mazo News Team