The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has issued a warning to candidates registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) regarding the circulation of fraudulent messages designed to deceive and defraud.
In a statement released on Wednesday in Abuja, JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, clarified that the board is not responsible for these messages, which are being sent by suspected scammers.
The fraudsters have been using a numerical variant of the UTME code, 8863, combined with the board’s short code, 55019, to create a deceptive message format that mimics JAMB’s official communication system.
Benjamin explained that these scam messages falsely claim that there are discrepancies in the candidates’ JAMB registration details, urging them to contact certain individuals who promise to resolve the supposed issues.
He strongly advised candidates to ignore these fraudulent messages, as they are part of a common scheme used by scammers to exploit individuals during the exam period.
“We want to emphasise that these messages are not from JAMB. Security agencies have been notified and are actively tracking the perpetrators behind this scam,” he stated.
“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.”
Benjamin further urged the public to be cautious and scrutinize any messages they receive. He recommended that any communication that does not follow JAMB’s official channels or includes suspicious instructions or language should be treated as fraudulent.