Aside from Konga & Jumia there are other legitimate Online stores where you can buy products or services online for cheaper prices and get fast delivery.
Here are few steps to guide you from falling prey to scammers online.
1.Google is your friend. Use Google to find out more about the Business. Before a business can be viewed on google or google maps, google would have verified that the Business address is real and the company or store exists at that location. Your can use google map to see the location, you can also read reviews about the business or the store. You also can get important information like Business address, phone number, contact person, Customer Service Number, e-mail and website address.
2. Don’t stop at googling the business. Visit the Store or the Business location to see for yourself if the store truly exist. You may also send a friend who lives close to the store or business location to help you visit the store. You can make your first purchase at the store and establish a business relationship. After this you can freely buy online from the store.
3. If you live in major cities in Nigeria like Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt insist on ‘Pay On Delivery’ for your first time order.
4. Download ‘True Caller App” to help you verify the phone number attached to the Business or Store.
5. Check if the Business or store sells on popular platforms like Konga and Jumia.
6. Check the Business Social media page like Facebook, Instagram etc. This will give you an idea how long the business has been existing on the social media platform. Check the amount of followers or likes the page has, check the review on the page and see what customers have said about the page or store.
7. When making transfer payments to bank accounts, avoid transferring cash to personal account name ask for Company Bank Account especially if its your 1st time patronizing the business or store. This is because before any Bank opens an account for a Business or Store, thorough search would be carried out by the bank to ensure that the Business is legitimately registered under CAC (Coporate Affairs Commision). So also, address verification of the Business would be carried out by the Bank. This gives you some sort of comfort about how legit the business or store is.
8. When you open the online store or Business page, ensure it starts with “https” and a green padlock just like in https://kidsbestprice.com
This tells you that the page is secured and you’re not in any security risk putting your details on the site.
9. Take out time to read terms and condition or policy document attached to the online store.
10. Try and know the owner(s) of the page. Use Domain Reputation API like urlvoid.com to scan the website or online store. This will tell you a lot about the site.
There may be additional steps you can also take which may not be listed above. However, if you can follow these steps it will be extremely difficult to get scammed purchasing any product or service online in Nigeria.