JIJI SCAMS – HOW TO AVOID GETTING SCAMMED

ABOUT JIJI SCAMS

The advent of internet explosion as it affects how business is done will inherently attract fraudsters and scammers. Similar to how bees attract honey and ants to sugar. Scammers conduct their activities in every area life, and of course, the Jiji.ng trading platform is not an exempt.

So users should not be surprised that the scammers are on ground.  Hence, users on Jiji.ng trading site should look out for the warning signals on how they can avoid scam.

One of the problems against the internet is the diligence of people who carry out such fraudulent activities. And the innocence and ignorant of the users who do not understand how they operate.

 How users can avoid the scam

• If as a Jiji user, you noticed something odd about adverts that you suspect as scam. You can register a complaint by pushing the “Something Wrong” button. And explain why the alarm is raised. For instance, it is illegal and not acceptable for a seller to demand payment upfront.
• When  you detect such scam adverts. A user who is a registered member on Jiji. Who has been duly verified with an approved e-mail can request for blocking a suspicious scam advertisement. Especially, if you trader’s account flagged  and blocked by two different users.  The Jiji.ng system will block him instantly.

Read Also: 10 Things About Jumia you should know

• There are two categories of users’ complaints on suspicious adverts. They are, ‘Serious’ (marked in red) and ‘not serious’ (marked yellow). If a user already has 5 ‘Not Serious’ complaints, the person will be blocked by the Jiji.ng system.
• But, Jiji.ng will not necessarily ban a user after the first complaint. This is because it is a trading platform and a market place where all traders compete to win the same customer. So, they will not automatically respond to the first request to block a particular user. Some traders on the Jiji platform might want to oust their competitors by pushing the red button once or twice.

  

  To resolve this issue, Jiji.ng ha put in places a special smart algorithm which checks the authenticity of complaints.  And if the claim does not meet certain criteria, the system ignores the said complaint and does nothing about it.

• When there is a struck between a buyer and the seller, please meet the seller in person in a public and safe place to check the quality of the item if it meets your expectations before payment.
• The safety precautions are two-sided- for the buyer and the seller, as one party may attempt to scam the other. If you are the buyer, never pay before seeing the item.  Discuss all associated costs before delivery, but payment should only be made only after delivery is done. And for the sellers, payments should not be asked for before the product is delivered.
• For those applying for jobs on the Jiji.ng platform, make sure you don’t get so desperate for the job that you ignore all warning signals coming from your sub-conscious. Go on fact-finding of the company’s background through their website, make sure they are a going concern and do exist and for how long. Check their social media activities on Facebook and other social pages, check out what people are saying about them.
• Google if there has been a complaint about them in the past. Be your detective.  And do not pay any money to apply for a job.  In addition, do not go to any the remote, hidden, or unfamiliar places for an interview.  And lastly, do not disclose any personal information such as a bank account number, a photocopy ID and any other information about yourself.
• Be careful of offers that are too wonderful to be true for such as always scams. Do not be carried away by such. For instance, if offered unrealistic low prices and promises of quick money.

  

• Jiji.ng does not and has never offered any payment scheme in purchases. You should report and flag any user who makes claims of such so the site can be ridden of such kind of people.
• Please, you are at liberty to report anyone who asks for additional fees to buy or sell an item or service. Jiji.ng will and had never made requests for payments for its services and does not sell items that are not based in Nigeria, so import and brokerage fees should never be required.
• Banking services such as Western Union or MoneyGram are not for transactions between sellers and buyers on the Jiji.ng platform and many fraudulent activities have been perpetrated through them. Please, for your interest, stay away from such requests.
• Many desperate sellers may try to sell a product too cheap, don’t fall into that trap. Don’t buy anything too cheap than the current market price. Check out the current market price of what you want to buy or sell, the new and fairly used prices and that will give you an idea of what is obtainable before agreeing to pay a particular amount.

  

• While inspecting the product, you have to ask the seller a few questions about the product to be certain that it was not stolen. Check out if the seller is sure of what he is selling by his body language and mannerisms. Compare the physical product with the one on the display picture. Understand the features of what you want to buy so that you can ask intelligent questions from the buyer. Make sure all the functions are tested and working perfectly before making payment for the phone or any other product.
• For those buying phones, check for battery life by browsing for at least 10 minutes.
  Switch the phone on and off several times to see if the battery capacity falls whenever it restarts, and if that is the case, then you should ask for another battery or damages for the battery.