JAMB Warns UTME 2025 Candidates About Fraudulent Messages
Scammers Clone Official Messaging System
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has issued an urgent warning to candidates registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) about circulating fraudulent messages.
In an official statement, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, revealed that fraudsters are targeting candidates by creating deceptive messages that appear to come from the examination board.
How the Scam Works
The scammers have combined the numerical variant of UTME (8863) with JAMB’s official sort code (55019) to create a misleading messaging system. These messages falsely claim to detect irregularities in candidates’ registration details and prompt recipients to contact certain individuals for “assistance.”
“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,” JAMB explained.
Security Measures in Place
JAMB has confirmed that security agencies have been notified and are actively tracking the perpetrators behind this scam. The board emphasized that these messages are not from official JAMB channels.
“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,” the board stated.
JAMB’s Anti-Fraud Efforts
This warning comes as part of JAMB’s broader efforts to combat examination fraud:
- Recent sting operations using decoy websites exposed 180 candidates attempting to purchase leaked questions
- 585 forged A/Level certificates were uncovered in 2025 alone
- 13 fake IJMB certificates submitted for Direct Entry admission were detected
- Four suspects are currently assisting police investigations
The board has intensified its fraud prevention measures through the Nigeria Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (NIPED), designed to authenticate academic records and combat certificate forgery.
Protection Advice for Candidates
JAMB urges all UTME candidates to:
- Ignore suspicious messages claiming to be from JAMB
- Verify all information through official JAMB communication channels
- Report any suspicious activity to authorities
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