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Fraud Flag System

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Three-Tier Fraud Flags with Human Review Gate

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The Obligation

When the verified record layer shows that a person has a verified history of fraud, Leja has an obligation to warn parties about to transact with them. The warning must be:
  • Based on real, confirmed fraud — not rumors or unverified accusations
  • Specific enough to be actionable — not vague reputation damage
  • High-profile enough to be meaningful — not every dispute is fraud
  • Designed to prevent future victims — not to permanently destroy anyone
The system must also protect against false positives:
  • A disputed payment is not fraud
  • An unresolved maintenance complaint is not fraud
  • A contentious lease exit is not fraud
The three-tier system exists to make these distinctions precisely.

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The Three Tiers

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Tier 1 — Dispute Flag

What triggers it: Any dispute raised and logged through Leja’s resolution process, regardless of outcome. Who sees it: Only parties actively in a transaction with this RIN at the time of query. (A landlord reviewing an application. A service provider considering a job.) What they see: 
"1 dispute on record. Resolved."
OR
"1 dispute on record. Unresolved."
OR
"3 disputes on record. 2 resolved, 1 unresolved."
What it does not say: Who initiated the dispute, what it was about, which party prevailed. The existence of a dispute is visible. The details require consent. Purpose: Transparency without punishment. Every party should know that disputes have occurred. They should decide whether to ask for more detail.

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Tier 2 — Verified Fraud Flag

What triggers it: Both of these must be true:
  1. Fraud was confirmed through Leja’s internal resolution process
  2. The fraud was corroborated by at least one independent verified party (another landlord, another agent, or another service provider on Leja)
Who decides: Leja’s resolution team. Human review is required. This flag is never set automatically based on algorithmic detection alone. The review process:
  1. Fraud allegation received through dispute resolution
  2. Both parties notified — accused party has 14 days to respond
  3. Flag labeled “Under Investigation” during review
  4. Leja resolution team reviews all evidence from both parties
  5. If confirmed: flag set to VERIFIED_FRAUD
  6. If not confirmed: flag cleared, “investigation found no evidence” noted
Who sees it: All verified Leja parties — any Leja Professional or Resident user who queries this RIN. What they see: 
"Verified fraud flag on record.
Category: [PAYMENT_FRAUD / IDENTITY_FRAUD / PROPERTY_FRAUD]
Date confirmed: [date]"
What it does: Warns every future counterparty before they transact. Does not block access to the platform. Does not prevent the flagged party from using Leja. Leja is not the judge — Leja witnesses. The counterparty decides.

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Tier 3 — Severe Fraud Flag

What triggers it: All three of these must be true:
  1. Tier 2 criteria met (confirmed fraud, corroborated)
  2. Significant financial harm (specific threshold TBD at Milestone Wave 2 legal review)
  3. Matter reported to law enforcement (EFCC, Nigeria Police)
Who decides: Leja resolution team + law enforcement case confirmation. Who sees it: All parties including the public verification endpoint. A person scanning the QR on a Leja receipt will see this flag if the issuing party has a Tier 3 flag. What they see: 
"High-severity fraud flag on record.
Law enforcement matter. Reference: [case number if available]
Date confirmed: [date]"
What it does NOT do: Tier 3 does not automatically revoke platform access. Leja does not act as a court. The flag informs. The counterparty decides. If law enforcement obtains a specific legal order, Leja complies with that specific order — but Tier 3 alone does not constitute revocation.

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False Positive Protection

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Before any Tier 2 or Tier 3 flag is set:

Step 1: Notification The accused party is notified immediately when a fraud allegation enters the resolution process. They receive:
  • A summary of the allegation
  • A request for their evidence and response
  • A 14-day response window
Step 2: Investigation period During the 14-day review:
  • The flag is labeled “Under Investigation” in the accused’s Trust Graph
  • Counterparties see “Under Investigation” — not “Verified Fraud”
  • No Tier 2 or Tier 3 flag is applied until the review concludes
Step 3: Both sides are heard The Leja resolution team reviews:
  • All evidence submitted by the accusing party
  • All evidence submitted by the accused party
  • Historical patterns from both parties’ Trust Graphs
  • Independent corroboration (required for Tier 2)
Step 4: Outcome is permanent either way If fraud is confirmed: 
Flag: VERIFIED_FRAUD
Note: "Fraud confirmed after review of evidence from both parties."
If fraud is NOT confirmed: 
Flag: CLEARED
Note: "Flag removed. Investigation found no evidence of fraud after
       full review. Original allegation made by [accusing party tier
       — not name] on [date]."
Both outcomes are permanent. Neither party can delete either the allegation or the resolution from the Trust Graph. Why both are permanent:
  • The fraudster cannot claim the flag didn’t exist by deleting it
  • The falsely accused cannot claim the allegation didn’t happen
  • The resolution is always visible alongside the allegation
  • The system’s credibility depends on neither side being able to erase truth

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Network-Level Fraud Detection

The AI (Dimension E) surfaces network-level patterns to human reviewers before individual victims report fraud. What the AI detects:
  • Velocity anomalies (unusually fast transaction completion for a new actor)
  • Geographic clustering (suspicious concentration in one area rapidly)
  • Document similarity (multiple different properties with nearly identical ownership documents submitted by different parties)
  • Payment anomalies (deposits received, tenancy commencement not confirmed across multiple properties)
  • Cross-party patterns (same set of people appearing repeatedly in transactions that later generate disputes)
What happens when detected: The AI surfaces these patterns to Leja’s resolution team. The resolution team investigates. No flag is set based on AI detection alone. The three-tier system’s human review gate applies without exception.

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What Fraud Categories Mean

PAYMENT_FRAUD
  Examples: fabricated payment evidence artifacts, duplicate payment
  references submitted by multiple tenants, payment reversal after
  receipt generated, false payment confirmation by agent

IDENTITY_FRAUD
  Examples: using someone else's identity documents, creating multiple
  accounts to circumvent a fraud flag, impersonating a verified agent
  or landlord

PROPERTY_FRAUD
  Examples: listing a property the person does not own or control,
  collecting deposits for the same property from multiple parties,
  fabricating ownership documents

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Leja’s Position in Fraud Resolution

Leja is a witnessing infrastructure. Leja is not a court. Leja’s resolution process establishes the witnessed truth about what happened, creates a permanent record of that truth, and warns future parties accordingly. Leja does not:
  • Impose financial penalties
  • Forcibly recover stolen funds
  • Guarantee that fraud victims will be compensated
These are matters for:
  • Nigerian courts (civil claims)
  • EFCC (criminal fraud)
  • CBN (financial fraud involving regulated instruments)
  • Nigeria Police (general criminal complaints)
Leja assists law enforcement by maintaining an immutable, credible records that can serve as evidence. Leja cooperates with valid legal orders. Leja does not substitute for the legal system.