Nine scam patterns we see every week on African classifieds

Almost every scam on a classifieds site is a variation on one idea: get you to send money before anything real has happened. Once you internalise that, the specific stories stop mattering. Still, it helps to recognise them by name.

The patterns

• Advance fee. The seller has a great price but needs a deposit to 'hold' the item. There is no item.
• Fake courier. You agree a price, then a 'shipping company' emails asking for delivery insurance you must pay first. The courier is the seller.
• Overpayment refund. A buyer sends a screenshot showing they paid too much and asks you to refund the difference. The original payment never clears.
• Off-platform pivot. Within one message they want to move to a channel with no record. Legitimate buyers do this too, but scammers do it immediately and insistently.
• Urgency. They are travelling tomorrow, the item is going to someone else in an hour, the price is only valid today.
• Stolen photos. The photos are studio-quality and inconsistent with each other. Reverse-image search takes ten seconds.
• Too-good pricing. A 2022 vehicle at half the going rate is not a bargain; it is bait.
• Employer fees. A job that requires payment for training, uniforms, a medical or 'processing'. Legitimate employers never charge to hire you.
• Rental sight-unseen. A landlord who is abroad, cannot show the flat, and wants a deposit to send keys.

The rule that defeats all of them

Do not send money to someone you have not met, for an item you have not seen, through a channel you cannot reverse. That is it. Every scam above requires you to break that rule at some point, and none of them survive it.

For higher-value items — vehicles, property, anything above a month's income — meet at a bank or a police station forecourt during business hours, bring someone with you, and complete payment only once the item is physically in your hands.

If it has already happened

Report the listing using the Report button on the listing page — it takes under a minute and it is the fastest way to get an account removed. Then report it to your bank or mobile money provider immediately; reversals are occasionally possible within the first hours and almost never after that. Finally, file a report with your local police; a case number is what your provider will ask for.