Popular money-doubling scheme, MMM, has called on its participants whose accounts were frozen to begin online publicity for the scheme ahead of its resumption date.

The scheme which has over 3 million Nigerians in its books placed a one-month ban on all withdrawals on December 13, 2016.

The development, which occurred a day after the Founder, Sergey Mavrod, said MMM had done a lot to improve the welfare of Nigerians, sparked fears among many Nigerians that the Ponzi scheme had crashed.

A letter displayed on the page of the scheme cited “heavy workload on system” as the reason for the suspension.

With the ban on the accounts, members of the scheme who were due to withdraw both their capital and 30 per cent return on investment were told they would not be able to do so until January 13.

As the resumption date is only a few days ahead, the scheme has asked its participants, whose accounts were frozen, to perform “Promo Tasks: A New Tool for MMM Community Development.”

MMM in a message to subscribers said the tasks, which should be done both online and offline, is expected to promote the scheme and drive “traffic and participation” by the time the handlers lift the freeze on January 13, 2017.

“Being an MMM member implies not only opportunities, but also a responsibility for the state and development of the MMM Community”, the message read.

In the message, the scheme also said that members who performed these tasks will be rewarded.

Nigerian agencies like the anti-graft EFCC and the Central Bank have warned Nigerians against MMM and other Ponzi schemes, saying they were fraudulent.