How to report rental fraud in Nigeria (and actually get help)

If you've been defrauded in a Nigerian rental transaction, the order you escalate matters more than anything else you do. The tenants who recover some of their money always contact their bank first and the police second. The tenants who lose everything typically call the police first and the bank three days later — by which time the money has been moved, withdrawn, or converted to dollars.

This post is the escalation playbook we hand to NoBroker Nigeria tenants when something goes wrong. It covers every realistic recovery channel — banks, EFCC, police, NURA, NIESV, the court system — in the order that works. For the scam patterns behind the fraud, see the pillar rental scams in Nigeria.

The first 24 hours are everything

Recovery rates drop dramatically with time:

• Within 12 hours of transfer: 40-70% of reports recover funds
• 12-48 hours: 15-30% recover
• 2-7 days: 5-15%
• 1-4 weeks: Near zero

The reason is simple: scammers don't leave money in the receiving account. They move it to a second account within hours, withdraw cash at a POS agent the same day, convert to USDT on Binance, or send it onward to accomplices. By the time you've "slept on it and decided what to do," the money is gone.

Treat the first 24 hours as a full-time recovery operation. Cancel other plans.

Step 1: Call your bank fraud desk — IMMEDIATELY

Not customer service. The fraud desk.

Every major Nigerian bank has a dedicated fraud line or escalation channel:

Bank	Fraud channel
GTBank	0700 482 6697328 (GTB FRAUD) or fraud@gtbank.com
Access Bank	fraud.desk@accessbankplc.com or app escalation
Zenith Bank	zenithdirect@zenithbank.com, 0700 0466368
UBA	fraud@ubagroup.com, CFC line in the app
First Bank	fraud.desk@firstbanknigeria.com
Stanbic IBTC	fraud@stanbicibtcbank.com, 0700 7826 22422
Union Bank	fraud@unionbankng.com

What to say: "I want to report a fraudulent transfer from my account. Recipient bank is [X], recipient account is [Y], amount is [Z], transfer reference is [W]. Please escalate to fraud and freeze if possible."