Date: 2017-01-16

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned prospective candidates against purchasing fake Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME application forms or falling victim to fraudsters as the sales of the 2017 form is set to commence.

The alert was issued by JAMB's Head of Media and Publicity, Dr Fabian Benjamin last week. According to him, "The examination body is yet to begin the sales of the 2017 UTME form."

Benjamin who appealed for patience from prospective candidates and the public stressed that "JAMB was putting finishing touches to the arrangements for a hitch-free outing, adding that the board would adequately sensitise the public before the sales begin.

"We do not want a repeat of what had been happening before and during registration this year."

He called on candidates to always visit the board's official website for credible information.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that some cyber cafes and coaching centres have already commenced selling fake forms to unsuspecting candidates. According to reports, many candidates have fallen victim to the fraud.

Recall that JAMB forms for previous years usually go on sale as from November. The delay in the sale of 2017 forms has been attributed to change in leadership of the Board and the determination of JAMB to limit middle men (business centres and cyber cafes) interference by introducing new payment methods.

According to earlier reports released by JAMB, the cost of the 2017 form is N5,000 added to this is the mandatory text book and CBT centre registration fee which cost N500 and N700 respectively.

Last year, the form was sold for N4,500 to prospective candidates.