The Situation
A first-time buyer found a two-bedroom apartment through an online listing at ₦150,000,000. The photographs showed a modern finished unit. She had spoken to the seller repeatedly by phone and had been sent a complete document set: Certificate of Occupancy, survey plan and building approval. She had already transferred ₦10,000,000 as a commitment fee before engaging us.
Our team attended the address. What stood there was an old structure that had been abandoned for years. The documents did not fail on a technicality; they were forgeries, with particulars copied from a legitimate title elsewhere and the description altered.
Our client did not transfer the balance.
Remote transactions fail in a specific way. Every element a buyer can check from a distance, meaning photographs, phone contact and scanned documents, can be produced by someone with no connection to the asset. The only check that cannot be faked is attendance at the address, and it is the one buyers skip.