ABUJA, Nigeria – The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) don raise alert say fraudulent messages dey circulate wey dey target candidates wey don register for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
For statement wey JAMB Public Communications Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, issue on Wednesday, e tok say dem suspects wey be fraudsters dey circulate these misleading messages to trick candidates.
JAMB explain say di fraudsters don use di UTME short code, 8863, join with dem official sort code, 55019, to create fake codes wey resemble di Board messaging system. dem dey send pipo false messages, dey claim say irregularities dey with their registration details and dey ask dem to reach out to certain people for help.
Di Board don make am clear say di messages no come from dem, but na calculated moves by di fraudsters to take disadvantage of di exam period and collect money from candidates.
“We don report di mata to di relevant security agencies wey don start to trace di fraudsters. Candidates wey dey prepare for di exam, make dem no mind any unsolicited messages, especially if dem dey request personal details or dey suggest say wahala dey with their JAMB records,” JAMB talk.
Dem strongly advise di public say make dem remain vigilant, verify any information wey dem fit receive from JAMB, and treat any suspicious message wey no come through JAMB official channels as fraud. “Any communication wey no fit match JAMB official communication, make you suspect it,” Dr. Benjamin add.
Dis warning fit show how serious di wahala of examination malpractice dey. JAMB recently don start to use better strategies to combat dis issue. For example, dem don create fake websites wey go catch people wey dey try to gain advantage through examination malpractice. Dem don catch at least 180 candidates wey don pay as much as N30,000 for leaked exam papers and fake results.
In addition, in early 2025, dem discover 585 forged A/Level certificates submitted for tertiary admissions. Dis include 13 fake Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) results. Four suspects don dey held for jail and dem dey assist police with di investigation.
JAMB dey apply new strategies like di Nigeria Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (NIPED) to verify academic qualifications and reduce certificate forgery. Dis system go help make sure say di admission process for tertiary education for Nigeria dey transparent and credible.
