How to check if a business or vendor in Nigeria is legit
Before you send money to an Instagram vendor, a WhatsApp seller or any business you have not used before, run these checks. Most take less than five minutes.
Updated 2026-11-11
Search the business on NaijaTrust first
Search the business name, or check its Instagram handle, WhatsApp number or bank account number on NaijaTrust. If the business has a profile, you will see its rating, how many people reviewed it and what they said.
Read the recent reviews and the low-star ones, not just the overall rating. A business with a few honest complaints that it answered well is often safer than one with only perfect scores.
Confirm who you are paying
- Make sure the account name your bank shows before you confirm a transfer matches the business name, or a name the business has told you in writing.
- Be careful when a seller asks you to pay into a personal account in a different name, or keeps changing the account number.
- For a registered company, search its name on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) public search to see that it exists.
- Call the phone number listed on the business profile or website, not only the number that messaged you.
Look closely at the social media page
- A long history of posts and real comments is a better sign than a new page with many followers and few comments.
- Search the product photos with a reverse image search. Stolen photos often show up on other sellers’ pages.
- Check whether comments have been switched off, or whether only praise is visible.
- Ask for a photo or short video of the actual item with today’s date written beside it.
Watch for pressure and too-good-to-be-true offers
- Prices far below what everyone else charges.
- “Last one left” or “pay in the next ten minutes” urgency.
- Refusing pay on delivery for no clear reason, or asking for a “delivery fee” before anything is sent.
- Asking you to keep the deal secret or to move the chat away from the platform you met on.
Pay in a way that protects you
Where you can, pay on delivery, pay part now and the rest on delivery, or pay in person after inspecting the item. Keep screenshots of the chat, the advert and your payment receipt.
If something goes wrong
Contact your bank immediately and ask about stopping or reversing the transfer. Keep all your evidence, report the account on the platform where you met the seller, and leave an honest review on NaijaTrust so the next person is warned.