Renting in Douala or Yaoundé: how to avoid the deposit scam

Finding a room, studio or apartment in Douala or Yaoundé is hard enough. Good places go fast, and landlords often ask for several months of rent in advance plus a deposit. Scammers know this. They post attractive listings at fair prices, create urgency, and collect "reservation fees" and deposits for homes they do not own. Here is how the scam works and how to protect yourself.

How the deposit scam works

The listing looks normal: clear photos, a reasonable rent, a good neighbourhood. The "landlord" or "agent" is friendly and responsive, but cannot show the place today. They are travelling, or the current tenant is still inside, or another viewer is coming tomorrow. To "hold" it for you, they ask for a reservation fee or part of the deposit by mobile money. Sometimes they send a photo of an ID card or a "contract" to look official.

Once the money arrives, one of three things happens: the number goes silent, a new fee appears (a "contract fee", a "key fee"), or you arrive at the address to find someone else living there, sometimes alongside other people who paid the same "landlord".

Variations include genuine agents who collect visit fees for places that are already let, and real tenants who sublet a place they are about to leave, collecting several deposits from several people.

Before you pay anything

• Visit in person, or send someone you trust. Never pay for a place nobody you know has seen. If you are not in the city, ask a friend or relative to visit.
• Meet the owner, or see the mandate. If an agent is involved, ask to see written authority from the owner, and ask to speak to the owner directly.
• Check that the keys work. During the visit, the person showing the place should open it with their own keys, not have it "opened by the caretaker".
• Ask the neighbours. A two-minute conversation with a neighbour or the building caretaker about who owns the place is the cheapest check there is.
• Compare prices. A three-bedroom in a sought-after area at the price of a studio is bait.
• Get a written lease that names the owner, the property, the rent, the deposit, the advance and the start date, signed by both sides.

Never pay a "reservation fee" by mobile money

The single most useful rule: do not send a reservation fee or deposit by mobile money to someone you have not met, for a place you have not seen. Once received, a mobile-money transfer is effectively final, and scammers withdraw immediately.

Hold the deposit in escrow

If you are ready to commit but not ready to hand money to a stranger, put the deposit or the advance into escrow. On Bizik, you create a deal with the landlord or agent: the property, the amount, the move-in date and a short inspection window. You fund it with MTN MoMo or Orange Money. The landlord sees that the money is really there and locked for them. When you receive the keys and the place matches what was agreed, you approve and they are paid. If the keys never come, or the place is not what was promised, you open a dispute and the money stays frozen until a Bizik mediator reviews the evidence.

A genuine landlord loses nothing by accepting this. They still receive the full amount, and they know you are serious. A fake landlord cannot accept it, because they have no keys to hand over. That refusal alone tells you what you need to know.

If you have already paid

Report the transaction to your mobile-money provider at once; if the money has not been withdrawn, a freeze may still be possible. Keep screenshots of the listing, the chat and the numbers used, and report the case to the police and to the platform where the listing appeared. Warn others in the same group: these scammers usually post the same listing several times.

See how a Bizik deal works, or read the seven online scams we see most often in Cameroon.