With the current global economic scenario, business owners and entrepreneurs are looking for loan offers and investment plans to help them grow their businesses and improve their lives.
However, in their search for this, the majority of people become victims of internet scammers. While it is possible to avoid this, it is frequently difficult because fraudsters know how to play their games, and if you aren’t paying attention, you will most likely get misled.
This was obvious in a recent press release from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which warned the public about fraudulent messages and videos targeted at unwary loan applicants and owners of small-scale enterprises ostensibly facilitated by the Bank.
The bank said in a statement: “The CBN has neither appointed nor accredited any organisation to serve as agent on its behalf for the purpose of investment or applying for intervention loans.”
It further explained that, “Prospective applicants are therefore advised to approach their respective banks, NIRSAL Micro—Finance Bank or the Central Bank of Nigeria branch nearest to them for clarification on the procedure for accessing any of the CBN – related facility.“
This brings us to the five most crucial points to remember when applying for loans, grants, and other financial aid:
- No one will approach you for payment to make loan disbursements for you, therefore don’t pay a kobo to anyone. If there is a chance, the instructions should be included without any obligation for payment.
- Ascertain if the online platform is safe. The majority of blogs provide loan offers and direct readers to apply for them online. While this is the most recent form of applying for loans because it simplifies the procedure, you must make sure that the website you’re looking at has an SSL Certificate. You can tell by glancing at the URL field in your browser. If the URL is preceded by a padlock symbol, the site is secure. If not, the notice “Not secure” will appear.
- If you have the option to verify the loan with a physical bank, please do so. The majority of these loans are backed by banks. As a result, you need go to the bank branch to verify the legality.
- Do not divulge your financial information: It’s common knowledge that most loan platforms will ask for your BVN. This is necessary in order to ensure that there are no fraudulent activity on their systems, such as people having several accounts or stealing funds. However, disclosing sensitive information, such as debit card numbers and other personal information, can be exceedingly harmful. Allow the bank to lead you once more.
- Keep track of everything you do. Make sure you keep track of all the data and activities you took, including the information you provided and the responses you received from the organizers. In the event that you are defrauded, this can be used to trace down and recover your funds. Please stay tuned for my future post, which will focus on recovering payments or personal information from scammers and internet fraudsters.
To protect yourself from cyber threats, follow these tips and secure your accounts. Please share.
Source: Nyscinfo