How to avoid rental scams in Nigeria

The pattern is almost always the same

Most rental scams share one shape: a place that looks better than its price, somebody who is in a hurry, and a request for money before you have seen the inside of the property. The money is usually asked for as an inspection fee, a form fee or a deposit to hold the place, sent by transfer to a personal account.

Once the transfer is made there is usually no record that ties the person to the property, and no way to get the money back. So the most useful habit is simple: do not send money for a home you have not seen, to a person you cannot identify.

Signs to stop and ask questions

• You are asked to pay before you inspect, or to pay to inspect.
• The person says they are abroad, at a funeral, or otherwise unable to show you the place, but will send the keys once you pay.
• The account name on the transfer details is not the name of the person you are talking to, or not a company.
• You are pushed to decide today because "many people are interested".
• The photographs look like a hotel or a magazine, or you find the same photographs on another advert with a different phone number.
• The move-in amount changes each time you ask, or new fees appear after you agree.

Check the agent before you pay

Ask for the agent's full name, their company if they have one, and their Vallo code if they are on Vallo. A Vallo code starts with VA-.

On vallospaces.com/check anybody can paste a phone number or a Vallo code and see whether it belongs to an agent registered with Vallo, with no account. If it does, you see the agent's public name, never their number. If it does not, you are told plainly. A code proves only that the code exists, so message the agent on Vallo to be sure you are talking to the owner of that code.

A "no match" is not proof that somebody is a criminal, and a match is not a promise about a deal. It is one more fact you did not have before.

Inspect, in daylight, before any money moves

For a rental, view the property in person or on a live video call before you pay anything. Go in daylight, bring somebody with you if you can, and look at the water, the light, the road and the gate. Ask to see the room you will actually rent, not a show flat.

Pay in a way that leaves a record

Whatever platform you use, pay in a way that leaves a record with the property and the other person's real name on it, and keep every message. Cash handed over at an inspection leaves nothing to trace.

Shortlets and hotels

A stay is the other way round from a rental: you usually cannot inspect a room in another city before you book, so you pay first. That makes the cancellation terms and the way you pay more important. Read the cancellation terms before you pay, and never pay for a stay by transfer to a personal account because a host offers a discount for it.

If it has already happened

Keep every message, number, account name and receipt. You can report the matter to the police, and if the person advertised on Vallo, report them to Vallo from the listing or the contact page so the account can be looked at.