Disregard fraudulent messages in circulation – JAMB tells students 

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) wishes to inform the public particularly candidates that registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) about the circulation of false, misleading, and criminal messages targeting the candidates.

JAMB spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement, on Wednesday, informed the candidates that the messages are being disseminated by suspected fraudsters with the intent to defraud unsuspecting individuals.

He said 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.

He said through the fraudulent scheme, the suspected fraudsters 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.

“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.”

He advised candidates to ignore such messages, stating that it is a common tactic employed by fraudsters who seek to exploit the examination period to deceive and defraud innocent candidates.

He urged the candidates to remain vigilant and critically assess the messages they receive, insisting that any communication that does not align with JAMB’s official channels, or uses suspicious language or instructions should be treated as fraudulent.