7 SIGNALS TO WATCH OUT FOR BEFORE YOU COMMIT TO THAT FINANCIAL TRANSACTION
Financial transactions influence a change in the finances of the parties involved. Just as It could be advantageous to all parties, it could also favour one party but be detrimental to the other party.
In a financial transaction, which can also be referred to as a 'contract’, there are two parties involved. Legally, the party who makes the offer can be referred to as the 'offeror' while the party to whom the offer was made is referred to as the 'offeree’, each party could consist of more than one person or company and both parties are connected by the transaction itself which is the 'offer’. The offer becomes legally binding when both parties agree to the terms of the contract.
Financial transactions in Nigeria could be carried out physically or online in several forms like buying from online vendors, making physical purchases, investing in businesses, registering with a savings or loans app etc.
Indications That A Financial Transaction Is Deceitful
People who live in Nigeria have either experienced fraudulent transactions firsthand or know someone who has. Because of this, an average Nigerian finds it difficult to commit blindly to financial transactions without protection, however, irrespective of their precautions, many Nigerian residents still fall prey to Nigerian scammers.
There are seven signs you should look out for before you engage in any financial transactions in Nigeria, they are discussed below.
1. Offeror's Reputation:
Whenever there is a financial agreement you want to participate in, you need to first research the offeror. You should learn about the offeror whether individual or company, their previous dealings and their present standing.
If after your research, you found any negative review relating to the offeror, or you did not find anything at all, whether positive or negative, then you need to avoid that party and whatever offer they are making.
2. Returns of the transaction:
You need to critically examine the yields of the transaction that the offeror is promising by weighing your investment alongside the promised earnings, the profit must be realistic.
If the promise is too good to be true, then it is likely that that deal is a hoax. For example, if someone makes you an offer that requires you to invest #100,000 in their poultry farm and after three months, you will be paid #10,000,000, you should know that it is a shady offer because some important questions cannot be satisfactorily answered.
The first question is, how would #100,000 bring back a return of #10,000,000 in 3 months? Then, how can that poultry farm generate #10,000,000 for every #100,000 that was invested into the business? Are there measures put in place to realise that amount? Also, how much was made in the last month? Is poultry farming that lucrative?
3. Nature of the offer:
The nature of the transaction is very crucial in your assessment of whether the transaction is valid or not.
A contractual breach cannot be legally enforceable if the nature of the deal has to do with something illegal or fraudulent. Also, if the nature of the deal is unreasonable, you should expect that the financial transaction between you and the offeror will be a fraud.
For example, if someone asks you to pay #200,000 to buy a car that costs #10,000,000, then you should know that if you go ahead with the transaction, you will lose your money and still not get the #10,000,000 car you paid for, because no reasonable man will sell a car worth ten million naira for two hundred thousand naira.
4. Conduct of the offeror:
This is a very common way to ascertain if an agreement is a scam in Nigeria. When you observe the behaviour of the offeror, you can guess the legitimacy of the offer.
If the offeror is hasty, vague, flashy or even hostile, then you should avoid proceeding with that transaction.
For example, if you are about to have a deal with someone but the person is in a haste to collect money from you and keeps pressurizing you to pay even when there is no tangible reason for their urgency, then you should be extremely careful and thoroughly investigate that transaction before making payments.
5. Liability:
In every contract, there are terms and conditions attached. The issue of liability must be discussed by both parties, so before you advance with that transaction, you must know who will be liable if things go south.
If the offeror is avoiding liability, then, it could be that they have a fraudulent intention. Also, if the offeror offers to be liable for any breach, even when it is you that made the breach, then you should avoid that contract because it could be a shady deal.
6. Documents:
For every transaction, there must be sufficient documents that can prove the existence of that transaction. Documents are created and maintained as a sign of proof that there was indeed a contract of a specific nature between you and the other party.
Documents could be in hard copy or soft copy, they could be signed agreements, bank transfer receipts, receipts of chats, voice recordings etc.
Documents are made to assure both parties that they can resolve matters if issues arise in the future, so if the offeror is avoiding the inclusion of documents in the transaction, then, that should be a huge turn-off for you.
7. Instinct:
It may sound ridiculous but people who have learnt to trust their guts, have fewer sob stories. You should learn to listen to yourself and trust your gut to avoid being duped by Nigerian scammers.
If your instinct tells you that the transaction you are about to participate in is dubious, then trust your instinct and avoid that transaction. You may even see other people making progress from that deal but you could do it and encounter a loss.
However, for this method to be effective, you must learn to distinguish between your instinct and paranoia.
Conclusion
The clues explained in this article should guide you on whether or not those financial transactions you are considering, are credible enough for you to engage in.
However, these suggestions are not the ultimate guide that will prevent you from being conned because, sometimes, a transaction could tick all the boxes listed above and still be a scam in Nigeria.
