Ahuwanya Victor, a Nigerian programmer, has created a site that aims to fight fraud in his country, fraudcheck.com.ng.
How it started:
The idea for the site came after Victor bought a solar panel rated 24V 8A , in order to combat the lack of electricity supply, and to power his laptop and phone but when he tested it, the solar panel was fake (24V 0.1A max).
Victor returned the panel and demanded that the shop owner give him a new one, the owner obliged but the replacement panel was just another fake. When confronted about the validity of his product the shop owner promised a full refund. The frustrated programmer however only received his refund after a lengthy and costly deliberation between the police and the shop owner.
This ordeal inspired Victor to build a website that could help other Nigerians not only report counterfeit products and fraudulent services but also a site where they can see which shops or services to stay clear of.
How it works:
The site is basically a crowd sourced fraud reporting website. If any Nigerian buys a fake product or service, the person can expose the fraudulent businessman on the site. So Nigerians who are defrauded come to the site to upload pictures and details of the person or organisation that defrauded them. The site works off a ratings system which will indicate the reputation of the companies listed. It is free to register to the site.
How the rating system works:
All businesses added to the website start with a reputation of 0. Every Nigerian who signs up on the website can vote once per business : Confirm that a business is fraudulent, neutral or argue that a business isn’t fraudulent. This alters the reputation of the business by -1, 0 and +1 respectively. So the lower the reputation, e.g -300, the higher the number of people who voted that the business is fraudulent.
Ahuwanya Victor has made full use of his Electronic Engineering degree from the University or Nigeria to try and do his bit to fight fraud and corruption within his beloved Nigeria. In a country which is currently fighting an economic crisis, fraudulent businesses are popping up everywhere, taking advantage of hardworking Nigerians. Victor hopes to help people avoid being caught out the same way he was. As the site is still in its infancy, Victor is hoping that Nigerians can come together to fight fraud in their country.
Dean Workman
