The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has uncovered a fraud syndicate using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to exploit candidates during the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration process.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, revealed this at a press conference, in Bwari, Abuja, stating that a discrete investigation led to the arrest of some individuals involved in the scheme.
Oloyede said the suspects falsely posed as JAMB officials and even created AI-manipulated videos and images, suggesting affiliation with the Minister of Education and JAMB Registrar, to lend credibility to their operations.
According to him, the Board’s investigations revealed that criminals used AI-generated materials and forged identities to deceive candidates and parents into paying for promised assistance during the UTME.
He described the scheme as a “grave and disturbing development” that threatens the integrity of Nigeria’s education system.
“The Board has convened this press briefing to address a grave and disturbing development that strikes at the heart of fairness, merit and integrity in the Nigerian educational system.
“Over the years, the Board has invested heavily financially, technologically and institutionally to safeguard the credibility of UTME.
“These efforts are not optional; they are necessary to protect millions of honest candidates whose only crime is believing that hard work still matters,” Oloyede stated.
The Registrar disclosed that more than 100 candidates across 25 states had already been linked to the network, with 83 confirmed to have made payments for the illegal services.
“What is important for us to emphasize here is that the students themselves and their parents are willing collaborators and they cannot be regarded as innocent,” he warned.
Oloyede said the Board would recommend the cancellation of registrations of candidates found to have subscribed to the fraudulent scheme.
“We have made up our mind that all those who subscribed, who paid to be assisted, we are making appropriate recommendations to the authorities… so that we can cancel their registration,” he said.
He also debunked allegations that JAMB had increased its registration fees, describing such claims as false and politically motivated.
“If you find anybody charging beyond what was charged last year, let that person report to the Board.
We have not increased the fee,” he said, adding that some erring Computer-Based Test centres had already been suspended.
The JAMB boss stressed that the fraud was nationwide and not peculiar to any region or state.
“This is to show you that it is not something that is peculiar to a particular part of the country. They are evenly distributed,” he noted.
While appealing to the media and the public for support, Oloyede insisted that the Board would not negotiate with examination fraudsters.
“How do you negotiate with criminals? Our position is clear: paying for examination fraud is a crime,” he said, while warning parents against enabling malpractice, saying such actions ultimately damage their children’s future.
“Parents must understand that paying for fraud does not secure a child’s future, it destroys it. You are teaching them that cheating is a strategy, that deception is acceptable and that merit is optional,” he said.
The Registrar further revealed that some tutorial centres and school proprietors were implicated in the racket, including operators who allegedly transported candidates across states and lodged them in hotels for malpractice purposes.
Despite the growing sophistication of fraud attempts, Oloyede expressed confidence in JAMB’s technological capacity and collaboration with security agencies to stay ahead of perpetrators.
“We are ahead of them. The only problem we have is public opinion,” he said.
He urged candidates, parents, schools and the media to join the Board’s campaign against examination malpractice, warning that ignorance would no longer be accepted as a defence.
“Anybody who patronises such people will pay for it,” Oloyede said.
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