‘Internet fraud plagues online business in Nigeria’

By JONAH NWOKPOKU

Co-Founder of Nigeria’s online letting agency, Tolet.com.ng, Mr. Suleiman Balogun has said that online related fraud that has come to be associated with Nigeria over time, has continued to threaten the growth of online business in the country. Tolet.com.ng, an online letting agency based in Lagos, helps people find apartment houses to rent.

Balogun said this has led to continued mistrust and scepticism about online business among the people thereby slowing the growth of the sector. “The Yahoo Yahoo stigma is still bedevilling the online industry in Nigeria. For us as a business, trying to ward off the toga of fraud associated with anything online has been a great challenge.


For instance you have people, especially older citizens who are persuaded to embrace our services but who still exhibit lots of scepticisms.

They are still concerned about the genuineness and legitimacy of online services, so they end up visiting physically to see and identify with the people behind the business before making a decision to explore the services,” he said.

While admitting that the perception is gradually reducing, he noted that tolet.com.ng, as a way of tackling that perception challenge, has tried to live up to the expectations of clients.

“To deal with that, we ensure that we keep our promises to our clients because one bad experience from one customer can easily spread and then cause discontent and mistrust among the users of our service,” he said.

On the operations of the company, Balogun said the company using its web platform has made significant impacts on the letting space in Nigeria as it has helped thousands of Nigerians solve their accommodation needs conveniently and within a short period of time.

With over 25,000 web traffic daily he said, Tolet.com team will continue to focus on providing transparency in apartment rental process as well as facilitating easy access to available properties and basic information needed to make the right decisions.

“Without these,” he argued, “one would have little option but to be subjected to undue stress by estate agents and will sometimes have to drive through an area for hours and wouldn’t be able to know which properties are up for rent.

Culled from www.vanguardngr.com