The JAMB board disclosed this in its Vol. 1, No 17 weekly Bulletin of the Office of the Registrar and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.

JAMB also advised candidates to jealously guard their Registration numbers, as well as Profile Codes to avoid falling victims to the scam.

The board also said that the fraudsters, once establishing the information needed, open up a line of communication with the candidates to dangle enticing offer to award them with higher scores in the yet to be released results.

“Candidates are to note that their Registration numbers and Profile Codes are essential data that should not be disclosed to unauthorized persons.

“What these fraudsters do is take advantage of candidates’ naivety and subsequently obtain their registration number with which they print their examination notification slips with candidate’s numbers and other vital data.

“These fraudsters then use the information to send messages to same candidates disguising as officials of the board or persons who have special information, access and capacity to inflate scores, among other things.

“We, therefore, urge candidates to see their registration numbers and profile codes as security data similar to that of the ATM pin number which admits them to make a withdrawal from their bank accounts.”

The board further urged candidates and parents to disregard messages or calls from any such, who claim to have access to classified information.

However, the board said that security operatives have apprehended some of the fraudsters while still on the trail of others.

JAMB also said that it would make public when the 2019 UTME results are ready.

It also said that the mode through which candidates can view their results have been communicated to them.

The board had earlier said candidates can simply send RESULT, via SMS, to 55019 using the same number that was used for registration.

The result, it said, would be replied as an SMS shortly after.

This process, the board explained, was simplified to preclude exploitation by Shylock business centres and cyber cafés who often take advantage of candidates.

The 2019 UTME was conducted nationwide from April 11 to April 18 with over 1.8 million candidates.