The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, has raised an alarm over the circulation of fraudulent text messages aimed at deceiving candidates registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
In a statement released on Wednesday in Abuja, JAMB spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, warned candidates and the general public to beware of fake messages disguised as official communication from the Board.
“These messages are not from JAMB,” Dr. Benjamin stated. “We have discovered that fraudsters are manipulating the UTME code ‘8863’ and combining it with our official short code ‘55019’ to impersonate the Board and mislead unsuspecting candidates.”
According to JAMB, the fraudulent messages falsely claim that candidates’ details have been tampered with and urge them to contact specific individuals who allegedly offer help. Dr. Benjamin emphasized that the scammers’ aim is to extort and defraud innocent candidates during the sensitive exam period.
“We urge candidates to disregard such communications,” he said. “The security agencies have been alerted and are currently investigating the origins of these criminal messages.”
He advised the public to remain alert and cross-check all messages with official JAMB platforms.
“Any message that seems suspicious or contains irregular instructions should be treated with caution. Do not engage with unknown contacts claiming to be JAMB officials,” he cautioned.
JAMB assured candidates that all official communications will come through its verified channels and urged them to report any suspicious messages to the appropriate authorities.
