How Nigerian freelancers get scammed (and how to stop it)

Nigerian freelancing has exploded. Writers, designers, developers, video editors, virtual assistants and consultants are earning real money from clients across Lagos, Lagos diaspora and overseas. The bad side: a noticeable portion of those clients never intended to pay. Here is what to watch for.

The classic "deliver first, payment Friday" trap

Client asks you to deliver the work, payment will come on Friday after their "internal approval." Friday comes, "next Friday." Then they ghost. Or they pay 30 percent and refuse the balance because "the work was not what we expected" (after they have already used it).

Defence: never deliver final, unwatermarked, production ready files without payment cleared in your bank app or held in escrow. Send watermarked previews. Send the source files only after release.

The sample theft

"Send a sample of your writing on this topic, if we like it we will hire you for the full project." You send a fully written, custom article. They never hire. They publish your article.

Defence: link to existing portfolio pieces instead of writing new spec. If they insist on custom, charge a sample fee, even a token one, and use escrow.

The fake company

The "client" represents a "company" with a slick website. The website is two weeks old, the company has no real presence, no LinkedIn employees, no address. They take your work, ghost, and the entire shell disappears.

Defence: before starting work for a new client, run a 5 minute background check. LinkedIn for the contact person, Google for the company, CAC for Nigerian companies, Companies House for UK, state registry for US. Verify the contact email matches the company domain.

The overpayment scam

"Client" sends a "payment" for more than agreed, asks you to refund the difference to a third party. The original "payment" is fake or reversible. You refund real money to a stranger.

Defence: never refund money from a payment until it has fully cleared. Even for cleared payments, never send refunds to a third party account different from the payer.

The endless revision

Client agrees a fixed price. You deliver. They request revisions. Then more. Then more. After ten rounds you have done three times the work for the same fee.

Defence: write the scope into the agreement. Specify number of revision rounds. Charge for revisions beyond the cap. With milestone escrow on HarrenaPay, you can structure the project so additional rounds trigger additional milestones, not unlimited work.

The "we will pay in crypto" with the volatile asset

Client agrees to pay in a thinly traded altcoin. By delivery time it has crashed 40 percent. Or they pay in a coin that gets delisted from your exchange. Or the wallet address they sent to is wrong and the crypto is lost.

Defence: accept payment in Naira, USD, or USDT (a stable, widely supported stablecoin). Avoid exotic altcoins for invoicing.

The "let us talk on WhatsApp" pivot

Initial contact comes through a legitimate platform (Upwork, Contra, LinkedIn). Client immediately suggests moving to WhatsApp "to discuss faster." Once off platform, the platform's protection is gone, and any dispute is your word against theirs.

Defence: keep all initial agreement, scope and payment discussions on the platform. WhatsApp is fine for casual chat after the deal is locked.

The "I need to test you with a small project first" loop

You agree to a small "test project" at low rate, with promise of bigger work after. You deliver. They use it. They never come back with the bigger work. Sometimes they pay the small fee, sometimes not.

Defence: take small projects at full rate, not discounted. If the client wants to test you, that is what your portfolio is for. Real clients pay full rate to test, because they value their own time.

The escrow defence applies to all of these

Most of the scams above die when you make escrow non negotiable for new clients. The deal structure becomes:

1. Agree scope, deliverables, timeline, and price in writing.
2. Client funds escrow for the full project, or milestone one.
3. You start work knowing the money is locked in.
4. You deliver milestone, client reviews, releases.
5. Next milestone funds, you deliver, releases.

A genuine client who values your work has zero problem with this. They protect themselves (you cannot run with the money without delivering) and they protect you (you cannot deliver and then chase them for months).

A client who refuses escrow is telling you something.

For Nigerian freelancers serving global clients

If your client is overseas, escrow still works, but you also need to think about settlement currency and payout. HarrenaPay's escrow can be configured for Naira side settlement on your end, with the client funding in their currency. This is increasingly important now that domiciliary accounts are not as easy as they used to be.

The mindset to keep

Your time is the most expensive thing you have. Every hour spent chasing a non paying client is an hour you cannot spend on a paying one. Escrow up front costs you a 1 to 2 percent fee. Chasing payment costs you weeks. The maths is obvious; the habit just needs to become automatic.