Most of the money people lose in Lagos is not stolen by force. It is handed over - to an agent for a flat that is not theirs, to a buyer whose transfer never arrived, to a recruiter for a job that does not exist. Every scam below is common, and every one is avoidable.
Housing
- The agent who is not an agent. A flat is shown, a deposit is paid “to hold it”, and the agent disappears - or the same flat was “held” for five people that week.
- The flat that is not for rent. A listing with photographs of a real flat, posted by someone with no connection to it.
Meet the landlord, see the agreement, and never pay into a personal account before you have both. See finding a place and the rent advance.
Money
- The fake alert. A buyer “pays” by transfer and shows you a credit SMS or a screenshot. Neither is proof. Check your balance in the bank’s own app before goods leave your hands. Fake alerts are cheap to make.
- The wrong transfer. Someone sends money to your account “by mistake” and begs you to send it back - to a different account. The original transfer is then reversed, or was itself stolen. Ask your bank to reverse it; never send it on yourself.
- The POS swap. At a POS stand or a till, the card handed back to you is not yours, and someone watched your PIN. Keep the card in sight, cover the keypad, and check the name on the card before you leave.
- “Your BVN needs updating.” A call or text from your “bank” asking for your BVN, PIN, OTP or card details. Banks never ask for these. Hang up and call the number on the back of your card.
On the road
- One chance. A danfo or private car that looks like ordinary transport, already holding “passengers” who are part of the gang. Once you are in, you are robbed - sometimes driven to a cash machine. It happens most at night, at quiet stops and on long stretches like the bridges. Board at busy parks, use the BRT or a booked ride where you can, and be wary of a bus that is suspiciously empty or suspiciously full of men. See one chance.
- The staged accident. A minor knock, followed by a crowd and a demand for cash on the spot. If you are in danger, drive on to a police station or a busy, lit place before stopping.
Your phone
- SIM swap. Someone persuades your network to issue a new SIM on your number, then uses it to receive your bank’s one-time passwords. If your line suddenly loses service, call your network and your bank at once - from another phone.
- The “code” text. Never read a code sent to your phone to anyone who calls asking for it. That code is the key to your account.
Work and investment
- Paying for a job. A recruiter asks for a fee for an interview, training, a medical, a uniform or “processing”. Genuine employers do not charge applicants. See finding a job.
- The investment that doubles. Monthly returns far above anything a bank pays, paid at first from new members’ money. Nigeria has watched several collapse, taking hundreds of thousands of people’s savings with them. If it is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, do not.
If it has happened
- Call your bank immediately. Ask it to contact the receiving bank and try to stop the money. Speed is everything: hours matter.
- Report it to the police, and get a written report.
- Report fraud to the EFCC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which takes reports online.
- Keep everything - account numbers, screenshots, chat messages, phone numbers. They are the only way the money is ever traced.
Being scammed is not stupidity. These schemes are run by people who do it all day. Report it anyway; it is how the accounts behind them get frozen.