Facebook Marketplace is one of the easiest places in Nigeria to buy a fairly used phone, a generator, furniture or a car. It's free to list, it's full of local sellers, and you can chat with them straight away.
That same ease is what scammers love. Anyone can open an account in minutes, copy someone else's photos, and post a listing that looks just like a real one.
How big is the problem? Nigeria doesn't publish Marketplace-specific figures, but the numbers from elsewhere give a sense of scale. In the UK, TSB bank checked 100 Marketplace ads in early 2024 and judged that 34% of them showed the hallmarks of a scam. The same bank said 73% of the purchase fraud cases it handled started on Facebook Marketplace.
Here in Nigeria, most buying on Marketplace still ends with a direct bank transfer to a stranger, which makes it riskier still.
This guide covers both sides. Buyers get scammed, but so do honest sellers, and the fix for both is the same.
The scams buyers run into most
1. The listing that doesn't exist. The photos are lifted from another seller, a website or an old post. The price is attractive, the seller is friendly, and the item vanishes as soon as you transfer. This is the classic "pay and get blocked" scam.
2. "Send a deposit to hold it." The seller says several people are interested, so you should pay a small deposit to reserve the item. The deposit is the whole scam. Once it lands, the seller stops replying, and the next buyer gets the same story.
3. The item that isn't what was described. The item is real, but it isn't what you paid for. A "UK used, clean" iPhone turns out to be refurbished with a cracked back. A "barely used" laptop has a dead battery. Once your money is gone, the seller says "no returns."
4. The waybill or dispatch fee trap. For out-of-state deals, the seller asks for an extra payment to "release the waybill," cover "customs" or pay a "dispatch rider." Each fee is followed by another, and the item never moves.
5. "Pay into my brother's account." The seller asks you to pay into an account in a different name from their profile. Sometimes this is innocent, but it's also how scammers keep their own accounts clean and make your money harder to trace.
The scams sellers run into most
Sellers get targeted too, and the most common trick in Nigeria is the fake bank alert.
Scammers use "flash fund" apps that generate messages that look exactly like a bank credit alert, with a sender name, amount and reference number. The buyer shows you the alert, you release the goods, and the money never actually arrives. Dubawa has documented how these apps work. In January 2025, Ogun State police arrested two men who allegedly bought ₦220,000 worth of clothes this way, and one of them was reportedly linked to an earlier ₦140,000 generator purchase done the same way.
Other seller-side tricks include:
- Overpayment: The "buyer" claims to have sent too much and asks you to refund the difference, before their original payment bounces or turns out to be fake.
- The disappearing custom order: You make or source a special item, and the buyer who asked for it goes silent.
- The "I didn't receive it" claim: After a real delivery, the buyer claims nothing arrived and demands a refund.
Red flags to check before any money moves
- The price is far below what similar items go for.
- The profile is brand new, has no friends or history, or only lists expensive items.
- The seller pushes you to decide fast: "someone is coming with cash in an hour."
- They refuse a video call or a short video of the item with today's date written beside it.
- The payment account name doesn't match the seller's name.
- They ask for a deposit, a waybill fee or any payment before you've seen the item.
- As a seller, the buyer shows you a screenshot or SMS of a transfer instead of letting you confirm it in your own banking app.
One red flag isn't proof of a scam. Two or more should make you stop.
The problem underneath all of these
Every scam above works because of one thing: someone has to trust a stranger first.
Either the buyer sends money and hopes the item arrives, or the seller ships and hopes the money is real. Whoever goes first carries all the risk. Meeting in person helps for small, local deals, but carrying cash and meeting strangers comes with its own risks, and it doesn't work across states.
What fixes this is taking the "who goes first" question off the table. That's what escrow does.
How escrow protects both sides
With escrow, the buyer pays into a protected account held by a neutral third party instead of paying the seller directly. The seller can see the money is secured before shipping, and it's only released when the buyer confirms the item is what was agreed.
Think of it like a referee holding the stakes until the match ends. Neither side can grab them early.
Here's how that handles each scam:
| Scam | What happens with escrow |
|---|---|
| Fake listing / seller disappears | The scammer never gets paid because nothing was delivered |
| "Pay a deposit to hold it" | There's no reason to send a deposit; the full amount is safely held instead |
| Item not as described | The buyer raises a dispute and the money stays locked |
| Waybill / extra fees | Delivery terms are agreed in the deal upfront, so there's no surprise fee to pay |
| Fake bank alert | The seller only ships once escrow confirms real funds are held, so screenshots don't count |
| "I didn't receive it" | The seller has the delivery record in the deal and the funds are already secured |
Using Pandascrow for your next Marketplace deal
Pandascrow lets you add escrow to any Marketplace deal in a few minutes:
- Create the deal. The buyer or the seller sets up an escrow with the item, the agreed price, the delivery date and the other person's email.
- Buyer pays into escrow. By card, or by bank transfer to a dedicated account created just for that deal. The money is held by Pandascrow, not sent to the seller.
- Seller ships. The seller gets a notification that the payment is secured, so they know the money is real before letting go of the item.
- Buyer confirms. Once the item arrives and checks out, the buyer confirms with a one-time code.
- Seller gets paid. The money is released automatically to the seller's wallet or bank account.
If something goes wrong, either side can open a dispute, and the funds stay locked until it's resolved.
If you sell regularly, set up a Pandascrow PayMe link and add it to your listings and chats. Buyers pay through the link, the money is held in escrow until the order is confirmed, and "pay through escrow" becomes a reason to buy from you instead of the next seller.
A simple rule to remember
If a buyer or seller won't use escrow for a high-value item, ask yourself why. Someone selling a genuine phone or someone with real money has nothing to lose from a neutral middleman. Scammers do.
Create your first protected deal on Pandascrow, or see how Pandascrow escrow works step by step. For more on staying safe, read why Nigerians keep getting scammed buying online and how Pandascrow protects freelancers and merchants.
Buy and sell on Marketplace all you want. Just stop paying on trust.