419 Scams: In Nigeria, you get an email saying that an item is available at a very low rate. But that in order for you to get, you need to pay some money in advance in order to process the paperwork. If you are outside Nigeria, you get an email saying that your help is needed to help take money out of a country and that you will be paid a commission for your help. Eventually they will ask you for money to help them take the large amount of money out of the country and once you pay you will never hear from them again.

Dating Frauds: In Nigeria, you get an email saying that a male/female is interested in you and he/she will like to be your friend. Even if this is encouraged, it is possible that sole intent of this person may be to have access to your financial means and dupe you in any form and/or style. It is very important that you meet physically in public places (restaurants, parks etc) in broad daylight and get to know people properly (like in every other relationship) before you allow them access into your life.

Brand name spoofing/phishing: You get an email that claims to be from Classifieds Nigeria or another company and offers buyer protection or an online payment system. These emails will typically request that you send money via this site or provide personal information. Classifieds Nigeria and most other companies will never send out such emails. If you send money via these sites you are likely sending money to the fraudsters.

Overpayment: A buyer or seller will send you a cheque and then ask for money to be returned to them. Often the cheque will bounce and you will have lost all money you sent to the other party.

Payment for brokerage/importing: A seller claims that there are brokerage fees, import duties, or other such fees required to get an item into Nigeria. Do not pay such fees, as you will most often never get the product and will have lost any money you paid. Again, Classifieds Nigeria is designed for local, in-person trading.

Fake escrow sites: A buyer or seller suggests using an escrow service to complete the transaction. Often these escrow web sites are run by fraudsters (even though they may look "official") and they will take your money and never send you the product.

Work from home: Many work from home offers are "pyramid schemes" which require you to recruit other members in order to get paid. For example, an ad may say that you can make $100 an hour by reading emails. But to make that money, you need to sell the system to others. Be careful of sites like these.

How to report scams and fraud:

* If you see an ad on the Classifieds Nigeria site that you suspect is Spam, illegal, or otherwise violates Classifieds Nigeria's policies, please click on the links found under "Report this Ad" in the bottom right of the ad's page. Reporting ads brings the ad to our attention so that we will review and can take it down quickly if appropriate.
* You can also use the "Report illegal/infringing Ad" link on an ad's page to send an email to the Classifieds Nigeria staff regarding a certain ad.
* If you reply to an ad and the person who posted the ad emails you with a suspicious request (eg. asks for money to be sent to them via a payment service), please forward us the email and stop all communications with that person.
* If you are the victim of fraud, inform Classifieds Nigeria and the police. If you have any other security questions that aren't answered above, then please contact us.