How Fake CAC Certificates were generated for Survival Funds Registration | Revealed

The registration for the Federal Government N75Billion MSME Survival Funds Scheme introduced many business owners in Nigeria to the undying importance of one having his/her  business registered by the Corporate Affairs Commision and possessing a Business Registration Certificate (CAC Certificate).

However, Fraudsters creeped in, utilising various strategies to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians. While some were selling Business Registration Numbers online for N2500 - N3500, others who are more organised and more technical were advertising for Business Registration within 24hours to the extent of creating a Corporate Affairs Commision Facebook Page to perfect their claim.

Recall: Beware: CAC Certificate fraud takes a new height

There is no doubt that desperate times attract desperate measures and that's why we will in this publication reveal the secret behind cheap Business Name Registration Numbers and how to verify your Certificates if someone had helped you get one upon paying a charged amount.

1. How Business Name Registration Numbers were generated and sold for cheap cash to MSME Survival Funds Applicants

The numbers are real and represent existing registered business Names and that's why they were verified on the Survival Funds Application Portal. The portal however does not verify the name of the Applicant to tally with the Business owner's name used to register the Business Name or request for uploading of a scanned  copy for physical verification. No time for that absolutely. 

So it opened a business door to some hooded merchants who do no job other than going to Corporate Affairs Commision's website https://www.cac.gov.ng, and running a quick keyword search to bring out a list of Business Names or Company Names with the BN or RC Number, and other details clearly stated. They denied the real owners of the Business Names the ability to use their own certificates. We are going practical in the No 2 of this segment.

2. How to verify if your CAC Certificate and Business Name Registration is valid especially if you paid someone to help you register it. This will also reveal if you have been scammed or not. If a fake certificate was printed for you and your money gone or not.

Let's go!

1. Open the official and upgraded Corporate Affairs Commision's website https://www.cac.gov.ng . It will open as below:

2. Click on "Public Search" and enter your Business Name. Next, click on "Search" as in the illustration below:

3. If your Business Name or Company Name is Registered, It will display as illustrated Below:

The method above is also used to check if a name you proposed to register as a Business Name is available or if it has been used by another person.

So the hooded merchant as used in No 1 above only did a quick keyword search and got results as below for their unwholesome trade.

Note: This content is only for Educational/Awareness purposes. Any crime committed with the knowledge therein shall be borne by whoever has committed it.