Woman accidentally takes N2.5m loan instead of N2500, to pay back N6.8m

A Nigerian woman lands into a serious problem after accidentally borrowing the sum of N2.5m from a loan shark instead of N2500 and is to pay back a whooping N6.8m.

A social media post from a concerned user, @Amy_Adabeeke raised an alarm about a loan error from her aunty who intended to loan a stipend.

The user alleged that her aunt attempted to take out a small loan of ₦2,500 but was granted a loan of ₦2.5 million instead by a popular digital lending platform, FairMoney Nigeria (@fairmoney_ng).

To compound the situation, an additional interest of ₦4.6 million was reportedly added to the principal amount, resulting in a total debt of ₦6.8 million.

In the viral post shared via X (formerly Twitter), the user wrote, “Please @fairmoney_ng my aunt was only trying to take out a loan of ₦2,500, why did you guys approve a loan of ₦2 million for her? And as if that’s not okay, y’all added an interest of ₦4.6 million extra? She had returned the money. Is there a way her dashboard can be cleared? To actually pay ₦6.8 something million.”

The user further explained that despite her aunt returning the ₦2.5 million loan amount, the excessive interest charges remain, and her dashboard still reflects the massive debt.

The post, which has gained significant traction online, raised concerns about potential errors in the loan approval system, as well as customer protection within the fintech sector.