The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has issued a public warning over the circulation of fraudulent messages targeting candidates registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
In a statement released by the Board’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB revealed that suspected fraudsters are using deceptive messages to defraud unsuspecting candidates.
The scammers reportedly merged a numerical variant of UTME, 8863, with JAMB’s official sort code, 55019, to create a misleading sort code that mimics the Board’s messaging system.
“These messages are being disseminated by suspected fraudsters with the intent to defraud unsuspecting individuals.
The perpetrators have exploited the numerical variant of UTME, 8863, and merged it with the Board’s sort code, 55019, to create a deceptive sort code that mimics JAMB’s official messaging system.
Through this fraudulent scheme, they have been sending misleading messages to candidates, falsely claiming to detect manipulations in their JAMB details and urging them to contact certain individuals who will “assist” in resolving these fabricated issues,” JAMB explained.
JAMB to track culprits
The Board emphasized that it has no connection with these messages and confirmed that security agencies have been notified and are actively tracking the perpetrators.
“We want to emphasize that these messages are not from JAMB. Security agencies have been notified and are actively tracking the perpetrators behind this scam.
Candidates are strongly advised to ignore such messages. This is a common tactic employed by fraudsters who seek to exploit the examination period to deceive and defraud innocent candidates,” the board stated
It also urged the public to remain vigilant and cross-check all information through JAMB’s verified communication channels.
What you should know
As part of broader efforts to curb examination malpractice, JAMB recently launched decoy websites designed to trap individuals seeking to cheat. These websites, which mimic those operated by fraudsters, were part of a sting operation that exposed at least 180 candidates who paid sums starting from N30,000 for leaked examination questions and fake score upgrades
Early this year, the board uncovered no fewer than 585 forged A/Level certificates in 2025 alone. This included 13 fake Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) certificates submitted for Direct Entry admission, with four suspects already apprehended and assisting police investigations.
The Board has since intensified efforts to tackle such fraud through the Nigeria Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (NIPED), which was specifically developed to authenticate academic records and combat certificate forgery.
