Nigeria: Beware of Facebook Pages Impersonating First Bank of Nigeria and Offering Bogus Loans

19 January 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Muktar Balogun

Beware of Facebook pages impersonating First Bank of Nigeria and offering bogus loans

IN SHORT: Several newly created Facebook pages are offering loans to Nigerians, using the name or logo of First Bank of Nigeria. But the pages are fake and their offers should be ignored.

The Facebook pages Easy Service, First Advance Credit, Quick Loan Advance and First Advance Business Loan claim to offer loans to Nigerians.

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Most of the pages' posts feature the name or logo of First Bank of Nigeria, one of the country's largest financial institutions, suggesting they are affiliated with it.

One post by the Easy Service page, dated 7 January 2026, reads: "Dear customer, kindly note that the maximum amount of loan you can request is ₦500,000.00."

The post includes a graphic encouraging users to apply for a loan and lists amounts of up to N1 million (about US$702). It also says a bank verification number (BVN) is not required.

BVN is a unique 11-digit number issued by Nigerian banks to identify customers.

More loan offers from these pages can be found here, here, here, here and here.

But are these pages offering genuine loans from Nigeria's First Bank? We checked.

Fake pages

The pages and their offers should not be trusted. First, they all have fewer than 2,000 followers. We would expect social media pages of a bank that has been operating for over 100 years to have thousands of followers.

Second, we found it strange that all of them were created between November 2025 and January 2026.

Third, the pages are not verified and make unrealistic promises such as "low interest of 0.1% and you can pay back at your own convenient time". This is uncharacteristic of reputable financial institutions.

Last, scammers often promise users quick loans and ask them to apply via unofficial channels. But this is a tactic they use to steal the applicant's personal and banking information, which may lead to fraud and identity theft.

First Bank's website features links to its official social media pages. Created in May 2011, the bank's official Facebook page is First Bank of Nigeria Limited. It is verified and has over 4.7 million followers.

The bank asks interested users to apply for loans via its website or app, not on Facebook. One of the requirements is a valid BVN, which not only helps to identify customers but also reduces fraud.

The Facebook pages in question and their loan offers are not genuine and should be ignored.

To help protect yourself from such scams, read our guide on how to spot them here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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