As platforms continue to spring up on social media to help Nigerians declutter their household items in exchange for cash, VICTOR AYENI writes that more citizens are falling victim to scammers employing various fraudulent tactics to dupe unsuspecting individuals
With mounting excitement, Chike Abengowe blinked rapidly, his mind racing to confirm he wasn’t caught in a dream as he stared incredulously at the screen of his mobile phone.
On September 12, 2023, the 32-year-old auditor at a Lagos firm was casually scrolling through his Instagram feed when a page named Declutter Abode caught his attention.
The account boldly promised to “buy and sell neatly used or brand-new household items.”
Abengowe’s curiosity grew as he explored the page. Photos of household and office gadgets flooded his screen—plasma TVs, deep freezers, water dispensers, and a host of kitchen appliances gleamed enticingly.
His excitement surged; this seemed like the jackpot he had been hoping for.
The ‘Declutter Abode’ page Abengowe stumbled upon – which appears to have now been deleted – had over 10,900 followers, and contained an address within the Lagos metropolis.
Clamour for second-hand items
Based on an investigation by Saturday TheNigerian, the demand for second-hand items among Nigerians usually peaks at the beginning and towards the end of the year.
Declutter platforms are meant to connect buyers seeking used items with sellers eager to offload them, while the declutter vendors earn a commission for facilitating these transactions.
Many of these platforms have measures put in place to prevent buyers and sellers from bypassing their services, ensuring commissions remain intact.
For Abengowe, the declutter page seemed legitimate at first glance, ticking all the right boxes for authenticity.
Two details stood out to him. First, the page featured a photo supposedly of the vendor—a cheerful figure in traditional attire, holding a phone and flashing a charming smile.
Second, the page displayed an image of a registered Corporate Affairs Commission certificate prominently displaying the vendor’s business name.
Confident he was dealing with a genuine business, Abengowe clicked on the WhatsApp link provided and messaged the vendor to inquire about a deep fryer.
The response was swift and reassuring—the deep fryer was available, and the vendor promised it would be delivered the next day after payment was made.
For the Abia State native, everything seemed to be in order.
Unfortunately, after the sum of N50,000 was transferred to the vendor, he cut off all communications and became unreachable.
“He just went mute. The next morning, I noticed that this guy had blocked me on Instagram. I proceeded to call him on the WhatsApp line with which we communicated but he cancelled the call and blocked me.
“I used another phone number and he also blocked it. It was then that I realised I had been scammed and that the page was a fake one. I gave the handle to my friends who went to the comment section to call him out and he blocked them also. I didn’t see the red flags,” Abengowe told Saturday TheNigerian with a tinge of regret evident in his voice.
After some investigation, Abengowe found out to his chagrin that the CAC certificate displayed on the declutter page was a fake.
The figures on the certificate, when entered into the CAC website, gave the name ‘Declutter Dot NG’ – a far cry from the business name supposedly registered on the CAC certificate displayed by the Instagram page.
“I chatted with the owner of ‘Declutter Dot NG’ and she was legit. It was then it dawned on me that this guy forged her CAC document. The business address is similar, but he fabricated the business name on the CAC document posted on his Instagram page.
“When one of my friends chatted with the scammer on WhatsApp, he sounded completely indifferent, saying that the insults I brought upon him by posting about how he scammed me on X last year were worth more than the money I lost to him,” Abengowe added.
Rise in decluttering scams
Abengowe’s friend, a social media entrepreneur named Tolani Kayode, flagged a suspicious detail about the Declutter Abode Instagram account—the username had been changed “three times, including once in the past 90 days.”
A check by Saturday TheNigerian on another decluttering platform, declutter_thrift_, which boasts over 13,000 followers, revealed an even more alarming trend. The page has changed its username 11 times since its creation, with five of those changes occurring in just the last 90 days.
“This is one of the red flags for scam pages,” Kayode explained. “They frequently change usernames within a short period and are often the ones running adverts aggressively.”
The decluttering business—transforming used household items into cash—has become a booming trend on social media, offering Nigerians access to fairly used items at affordable prices. In some cases, buyers are allowed to visit the address provided to inspect and test items before making payments.
However, in many instances, transactions occur solely based on photos or videos shared by decluttering agents.
While some agents pursue decluttering as a part-time hustle, others run full-time businesses, maintaining dedicated social media accounts showcasing various home items for sale.
However, as this market for second-hand goods grows, so too has the menace of scammers posing as declutter agents and vendors.
These fraudulent operators, often active on Instagram and X.com, exploit unsuspecting buyers, creating significant challenges for legitimate social media businesses to thrive.
Saturday TheNigerian investigations revealed that these fraudsters bait victims with enticing offers of household items at heavily discounted prices.
Once payments are made—whether for shipping, handling fees, or deposits—they disappear without a trace.
It was discovered that some scammers who operate social media pages take it a step further by blocking their victims immediately after receiving payments for non-existent gadgets.
An undelivered machine
Like many other Instagram users, Bidemi Iluyemi faithfully followed a page believed to be managed by an organic skincare doctor.
The Instagram page, flawless__skincare, boasting over 57,000 followers, prominently claimed in its bio to be a “no scam zone”—a detail that had been quietly removed as of Thursday evening.
On October 26, 2024, the page manager, simply identified as Blessing, shared a post featuring decluttered home items and urged followers to take advantage of the deals.
Among the items, Iluyemi, a fashion designer, spotted an industrial sewing machine and reached out to Blessing via WhatsApp to arrange its delivery to her in Akure, Ondo State.
According to chats reviewed by Saturday TheNigerian, Blessing requested a total payment of N87,000 — N60,000 for the machine and N27,000 for delivery.
Iluyemi promptly transferred N60,000 into a mobile bank account provided by Blessing and completed the remaining payment the next day.
Checks by Saturday TheNigerian revealed that the account was registered under a firm’s name, a common tactic scammers use to make tracing more difficult.
After more than 24 hours without receiving the machine, Iluyemi messaged Blessing, who reassured her by providing the phone number of a supposed delivery lady named Debby.
“I’m sorry I’ve not been online since morning. I spoke to the delivery lady this morning. She had a delivery to make in Ibadan first, but let me still check,” a voice believed to be Blessing’s explained in a voice note sent to Iluyemi and which was shared with our correspondent.
That was the last response Iluyemi received. Calls to the delivery lady’s phone went unanswered, and subsequent text messages were ignored.
“I later found out that Debby had blocked me,” Iluyemi recounted.
The following Monday, Iluyemi shared her ordeal with a friend, only to discover that the same Blessing had scammed her friend of N150,000 the previous year for a similar decluttered home item.
When Iluyemi confronted Blessing with this revelation, she ignored all the messages sent to her and turned off read receipts.
“That was how I got scammed,” Iluyemi said, her voice heavy with disappointment.
When our correspondent contacted Blessing via the WhatsApp number sent by Iluyemi and asked the skincare vendor to respond to the allegation, she said, “Whatever they say happened is what happened. In case you need more information about me, kindly let me know.”
When our correspondent further asked her what may have prompted her to scam the victims, she added, “Get the proof you need from them. Unfortunately, I ran an advert for someone who didn’t deliver, I could’ve cleared the bill myself but I can’t anymore because I have been dragged on different platforms and labelled a scam.
“Nobody paid me any money if they say otherwise, let them come out with proof of payment to my account.”
Highlighting potential warning signs, a tech expert, Francis Tochi, advised prospective buyers to remain vigilant.
“Pictures alone are not sufficient to verify the legitimacy of decluttering vendors,” he told Saturday TheNigerian.
“Once you come across a declutter page, check if there’s a video introduction featuring the page owner.
If none exists, that’s a potential red flag. Photos can easily be stolen or manipulated,” Tochi warned.
“There have been cases where people’s photos were stolen from their social media pages without their knowledge and used as disguises on pages operated by scammers,” Tochi stated.
He further advised prospective buyers to check the date the account was created and compare the total number of posts against the follower count, which he noted could be artificially inflated by scammers.
“Another thing to watch for is the account numbers provided by decluttering pages. If they belong to digital wallets or mobile banks instead of mainstream or reputable banks, I strongly advise avoiding them, as these accounts are very difficult to trace,” Tochi added.
‘I felt drained and helpless’
An assistant manager at a Lagos-based firm, Cynthia Ehioje, recounted her ordeal with an Instagram page named DeclutterHut, which she discovered on November 30, 2023, while searching for second-hand items.
She explained that what initially convinced her to trust the profile was a CAC certificate prominently pinned to the page.
“Unfortunately, I later discovered that the certificate was fake,” she told Saturday TheNigerian.
She had paid N70,000 to a fintech bank account bearing the name Efe Happiness for an air conditioner.
“It was a fair price at the time based on the market range and similar prices listed by other declutter pages,” Ehioje said.
Initially, the seller was very responsive. However, after she made the payment, things began to unravel.
“I asked for their contact details and location to pick up the item, and after some hesitation, they gave me an address on 18 Ribadu Way in Ikoyi,” she recounted.
Upon arriving at the location, she realised it was a hotel, not the residential or business address the vendor had claimed.
Sensing she had been scammed, Ehioje revisited the Instagram page, only to find she had been blocked. Calls to the vendor’s phone went unanswered.
“Adding to my frustration, I had spent money on transport to verify the address, even though I’d noticed earlier that it seemed suspicious on Google Maps. I reported the incident to my bank, but they requested a police report before they could investigate.
“I also contacted the fintech app and even reached out to their fraud department on LinkedIn, but nothing came of it. The entire process was emotionally draining and left me feeling helpless,” she said dejectedly.
This ordeal sparked Ehioje’s curiosity about the tactics of online scammers, making her delve into the virtual world of fraudulent declutter pages, uncovering a web of deception involving fake CAC certificates, stolen images from legitimate businesses, and addresses crafted to appear credible.
“After chatting with scammers behind several pages, I noticed a pattern. Some demanded instalment payments before delivery but would go silent after receiving the full amount. One vendor blocked me outright when I confronted them about their shady practices,” she revealed.
The experience, though painful, taught Ehioje to be more cautious.
“This year, I came across a page called Legit DeclutterNG that helps verify declutter sellers, and it’s been a game-changer,” she added.
Findings by Saturday TheNigerian showed that the ‘Decutter Hut’ page had deactivated its Instagram account.
When our correspondent called the phone number which the vendor had sent to Ehioje, it was not reachable. A text message sent to the number was not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
A disturbing trend
In one of its posts, an Instagram page named Decluttering Villa identified and listed over 26 scam declutter pages operating on social media.
However, Saturday TheNigerian was unable to independently verify if all the accounts had changed their names since August 2023, when the list was last updated.
Decrying the troubling rise in decluttering scams in Nigeria, an SEO and AI for Business tech expert, Ndubuisi Ubani, explained that scammers often create fake online marketplaces to deceive unsuspecting individuals seeking great deals on decluttered items.
“To protect yourself from these scams, it’s crucial to exercise caution; do your due diligence.
“Why are you in a hurry to part with your hard-earned money? Verify the seller’s identity by requesting additional information and researching the online platform’s reputation,” Ubani told Saturday TheNigerian.
He further urged prospective clients to “prioritise secure payment methods with buyer protection and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true. Trust your instincts and avoid transactions that feel suspicious.”
Ubani also pointed out that industry leaders like the Chief Executive Officer of Declutterdotcom, Vivian Ekwegh, “are actively educating the public about decluttering scams and promoting transparency within the industry.”
Fake but CAC-registered
Last month, a media entrepreneur, Josiah Olamide, encountered an Instagram account named Timitimi Declutter Businesses, which boasts over 3,000 followers.
The Instagram page featured an array of “used and new household items” that it promised to deliver directly to customers’ doorsteps, with instructions to “screenshot items and send via WhatsApp for enquiry.”
Created in 2019, the page has changed its username twice since its inception and prominently displays a CAC registration certificate pinned to its profile, giving the impression of legitimacy.
“Payment validates orders,” the bio on the page read, prompting Olamide to reach out to the agent.
“I saw the photo of a lady on their WhatsApp display picture, so I assumed I was chatting with her,” Olamide recalled. “I sent her a screenshot of the item I wanted to order, and she responded with t he payment details.”
The details included a fintech bank account with a slightly altered name resembling the page’s, alongside instructions to send a copy of the payment receipt to receive the seller’s details.
However, the first red flag emerged when Olamide conducted a check on the agent’s Facebook page under the same name.
“I discovered that the account number she gave me differed from the one on their Facebook page, though both accounts bore the same name. They claimed the account was also linked to the name Success Ofomana,” he explained.
Using a Facebook search, Saturday TheNigerian found that on November 10, a Facebook user named Noosi Tiwantiwa issued a disclaimer disassociating herself from Timitimi Declutter Business.
Unbeknownst to Tiwantiwa, the individual behind the alleged fraudulent business had impersonated her by using her photo as their WhatsApp display picture, causing several victims to believe they were interacting with her.
The scam came to light when some victims shared the WhatsApp profile photo on Facebook, prompting Tiwantiwa’s friends to recognise and alert her.
A CAC search for Timitimi Declutter revealed that the business was registered with the commission on October 23, 2024, and its status was listed as “active.”
When our correspondent reached out to TimiTimi with the allegations, she did not respond to the messages sent to her WhatsApp and to her phone number.
Edited or fabricated
Saturday TheNigerian discovered that many fraudulent declutter pages flaunt falsified CAC registration certificates, often cloned from legitimate business owners.
According to the CAC, registering a business is a straightforward process that begins with checking the availability of the business name and completing a pre-registration form.
Through the online company registration portal, applicants upload relevant documents and pay the required filing fees.
An electronic certificate of registration and a certified extract of registration information can also be obtained online.
Additionally, these processes can be mediated by CAC registration agents operating on social media platforms.
The CAC clarified that individuals or proprietors can register business names without requiring the services of legal practitioners, chartered accountants, or chartered secretaries.
However, corporate business enthusiast and CAC filings expert, Omolayo Olorunsola, explained that scammers often either clone authentic CAC certificates from legitimate vendors, replace the business names, or engage fake agents to issue fraudulent certificates.
“My advice is that people should be cautious of fake agents,” Olorunsola said.
She also advised business owners to “confirm the authenticity of the certificate when it is issued.”
In July 2022, the Lagos State Police Command uncovered a syndicate operating a fake CAC registration centre, leading to the arrest of five suspects.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that the syndicate has swindled hundreds of people through fake CAC registrations,” stated Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin.
A CAC registration agent, Henry Ogbonna, emphasised that certain details on a CAC certificate can help verify its authenticity.
“The business address must be complete; otherwise, the CAC registration process will reject it. Additionally, the object clause of the business – specifying the company’s main objectives and authorised activities – must be precise. If it’s vague, the registration will be rejected,” he explained.
Citing an example, Ogbonna said, “The object clause on the CAC certificate presented by Declutter Abode was listed as ‘undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of private household items for own use.’ This vague object clause indicates the certificate was fake.”
Addressing these challenges, the CAC Registrar-General, Hussaini Magaji, affirmed the commission’s commitment to reinventing and improving its services.
“The commission is ready and willing to re-invent and re-create itself to meet the present and future needs of its customers, ensuring a customer-centric organisation,” he assured.
‘Avoid these handles’
A perfume vendor, who preferred to be called Martha Okolie, told Saturday TheNigerian that a high percentage of declutter pages on Instagram are run by scammers.
She explained, “There was an Instagram page named ‘Swift Declutter’, which claimed to deliver household items across all states in Nigeria. The vendor had a photo on her profile that I believed was hers, and I thought it was legit. I saw a beautiful couch she wanted to sell, so I paid N65,000. She blocked me the day she was supposed to deliver the chair I paid for.”
A thorough check by our correspondent showed that the Swift Declutter Instagram page had either been deleted or deactivated.
“There are so many of them now,” another victim, who gave her name simply as Eniola, said. “Last year, one vendor blocked me after I paid for the delivery of my item. She even disabled her Instagram account. I was frustrated.”
On January 9, an X user, Akitiolu (@Alpha_Yom), posted screenshots of two declutter pages—one named All Clear Declutter and the other Everything Technology.
In his caption, he wrote, “Please, for whatever reason, avoid these handles and verify sales, especially online orders. Instagram handlers are raving mad! A friend got scammed, and it’s sad. Why do you scam people of their hard-earned money and then say you are scamming because they are Yoruba or you think they voted for someone?”
He pointed out the address listed in the bio of the ‘Everything Technology’ Instagram page, saying, “There is no address in Badagry called Noble Plaza. This is not politics; this is madness.”
One of the WhatsApp screenshots Akitiolu shared showed the alleged scammer, whose name was saved as ‘Aderonke,’ mocking the victim when she called her out.
“Wait for me to post the video. You and all your family members will comment ‘ole’ (thief) ‘scammer’ under the picture, and I will delete everything. Una go comment till una finger break,” the vendor believed to be Aderonke wrote partly in Pidgin English.
In another screenshot, the alleged scammer expressed “happiness” over fleecing the victim because of her ethnicity and political choice in the 2023 presidential election.
“I promise you, there is nothing you can do about it, cry more!” Aderonke wrote. “That your N200,000 just start dey sweet me die. Before, I couldn’t even reply to your messages or block you because I was feeling bad for you and your parents, but not anymore.”
However, when our correspondent contacted the ‘All Clear Declutter’ page through the WhatsApp number seen in the chats, he observed that the name on the page now read, ‘Comfort Declutter.’
“You are a liar. I don’t scam anyone,” the vendor replied to the allegations when contacted by Saturday TheNigerian.
When our correspondent forwarded the chats with his phone number showing in them, he denied being a scammer.
“I have also been having people say I scammed them. I am not the one, please. I don’t know how they are saying it’s me. That was ‘All Clear Declutter’ I see there.
“I’m surprised because I’m a lady, not a man, and some of them say it’s a man who scammed them. My business is Comfort Declutter,” the vendor said.
In the comments section, X user Kofoworolabaker shared WhatsApp chats from the vendor behind the ‘All Clear Declutter’ page, in which the scammer urged the victim to commit suicide.
Using a tracker, Kofoworolabaker shared a photo of the man posing as ‘Aderonke’ along with his account number. “My picker just gave me that account this morning,” the suspect wrote in a chat seen by Saturday TheNigerian. “I know you will go to the bank and they will block the account, but I just want you to know that another account will be readily available once this one gets blocked.”
In another post dated May 19, Akitiolu shared a screenshot of an Instagram page named ‘Aboveall Declutter’, which had more than 5,632 followers.
“Another case of declutter scamming people. If I were you, I’d avoid those declutter pages. He has been reported to the Nigeria Police fraud page,” he wrote.
Saturday TheNigerian gathered that the victim, Emeka (surname withheld), was scammed of N236,000 by the ‘Aboveall Declutter vendor’.
He was allegedly blocked by the vendor managing the page after he paid into the mobile bank account provided.
A financial analyst, Idowu Khalid, opined that ranting online alone is not sufficient for people who have fallen victim to declutter scammers.
“They should first go to a police station and report. If it’s a mainstream bank, they can write to it and copy the Central Bank of Nigeria’s fraud desk. Once these steps are done, they can come online to pressure the authorities,” Khalid advised.
“While it is fair that they alert us to these criminals who even fabricate business certificates, we should also recognise that some people are still not enlightened and are falling victim to them as I speak,” he added.
