Unemployment in Nigeria is high enough that a job offer feels like a lifeline — and scammers know it. The pattern is almost always the same: a convincing offer letter, a real-looking company name, an interview on WhatsApp or Zoom, and then a payment request. Training fee. Uniform. Medical screening. ID card. "Documentation." Sometimes ₦15,000, sometimes ₦1.5 million for an overseas placement.
Then the resumption date shifts. Then it shifts again. Then the number is switched off.
Two things matter here, and this guide covers both: how to tell a fake offer from a real one before you pay, and what genuinely works to recover money after you already have.
The One Rule That Catches Almost Every Job Scam
A genuine employer does not charge you to be employed. Not for training, not for a uniform, not for an ID card, not for "documentation." Legitimate companies deduct those costs from salary or absorb them entirely. If money has to move from you to them before you start work, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise.
There are two narrow exceptions, and scammers hide inside both: a medical test you book yourself at a hospital of your choosing (you pay the hospital directly, not the recruiter), and licensed overseas recruitment, where certain documented costs are permitted. Everything else is a red flag.
The Warning Signs
Stop before you pay if you see these
- You never applied. The offer arrived by SMS, WhatsApp, or Telegram from a number you don't know.
- The salary is far above market for the role, the experience required is oddly low, and the interview was brief or purely on chat.
- Payment goes to a personal account — an individual's name rather than a registered company account.
- Urgency and scarcity. "Only 3 slots left," "pay before 4pm today," "the batch closes tonight."
- The email domain is free. A real HR department writes from @companyname.com, not @gmail.com.
- You cannot verify the office. No verifiable address, no landline, no listing on the company's own careers page, no CAC registration you can check.
- For overseas jobs: no licence. Agencies recruiting Nigerians for work abroad must be licensed by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. Ask for the licence number and verify it.
Verify Before You Pay — In Ten Minutes
Search the company name plus the word "scam." Check whether the role exists on the company's official website or LinkedIn page. Call the company's published switchboard number — not the number on the offer letter — and ask HR to confirm the recruiter's name. Check the CAC public search for the company's registration. If an agency is involved, ask for its Ministry of Labour licence and its physical office address, then visit it if the sum is significant.
Ten minutes of checking has saved Nigerians millions of naira. Scammers rely on excitement outrunning verification.
You Already Paid. Here's What to Do
Freeze the evidence today
Save the offer letter, every chat thread, the phone numbers, the email headers, the account name and number you paid into, and your bank transfer receipt or alert. Export the WhatsApp chat (Chat → Export chat) before it can be deleted from their side. Evidence collected in the first 48 hours is far stronger than evidence reconstructed weeks later.
Report to your bank immediately
Go to your bank with the transfer details and formally report the account as fraudulent. Banks can place a restriction (a "PND" — post no debit) on a receiving account flagged for fraud, which sometimes traps funds that haven't been withdrawn yet. Speed decides this: money moved in the first hours is usually gone. Get a written acknowledgement and a reference number.
Report to the EFCC or the police
Obtaining money by false pretence is a criminal offence under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act. Report to the EFCC (efccnigeria.org has an online complaint portal) or the police, attaching your evidence pack. Where the account name is a real, traceable person, a criminal complaint carries real weight — it is often the moment refunds suddenly become possible.
Warn the next person
Post the account name, number, and phone number in the relevant job groups and on social media, stating only verifiable facts — what you paid, when, and what did not happen. Stick to facts you can prove; unproven accusations expose you to a defamation claim of your own.
When the "Agent" Is Someone You Actually Know
A large share of Nigerian job scams are not anonymous. It is a family friend, a church member, a former colleague, or an agent introduced by someone you trust who promised to "connect" you and now says the money has been spent. These cases rarely go anywhere in a police station — the officer sees a civil debt between two people who know each other, and it stalls.
These are exactly the cases that settle. The person can be identified, they have a reputation to protect, and they usually cannot repay in one lump sum but can repay over three to six months. What you need is not a shouting match — it is a written, signed agreement stating the total owed, the instalment dates, and what happens if they default. That document is worth more than a hundred phone calls, and it is enforceable.
Read our related guide on recovering money lost to an online scam for the bank-trace side of this, and how to recover a debt without hiring a lawyer for the repayment-agreement side.
Get your money back on the record
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is it legal for an employer to charge a training fee in Nigeria?
A genuine employer does not require payment as a condition of being hired. Charging for training, uniforms, ID cards or "processing" before you start is the standard structure of a scam. The narrow exceptions are a medical test you book and pay for yourself at a hospital of your choosing, and documented costs in licensed overseas recruitment.
How do I check if a recruitment agency in Nigeria is genuine?
Check the CAC public search for the registration, confirm the role on the company's official site, and call the company's published switchboard — not the number on the offer letter. For overseas jobs, ask for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment licence and verify it before paying anything.
Can I get my money back after a job scam in Nigeria?
It depends on speed and on whether the person is identifiable. Report the receiving account to your bank the same day, report to the EFCC or police, and where the collector is someone known and traceable, pursue a written repayment agreement — that is usually what actually gets you paid.
Should I name the scammer publicly on social media?
Stick to facts you can prove: the amount, the date, the account details, and that the job never materialised. Avoid unproven labels like "criminal" — that can expose you to a defamation claim of your own. See our guide on online defamation in Nigeria.