The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the arrest of two candidates and a parent over alleged falsification of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results using artificial intelligence and other digital tools.
The board made this known on Friday, April 17, while releasing the results of 632,788 candidates who sat for the examination on Thursday, April 16.
JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, said the suspects were caught manipulating official SMS result notifications to alter or fabricate scores in a bid to mislead parents, guardians, and the public.
“Currently, two candidates and one parent are in custody for engaging in result falsification using AI and other electronic means,” the statement said.
Benjamin described the act as a serious criminal offence and warned that all those involved would face the full weight of the law.
He also cautioned candidates against tampering with result messages sent via JAMB’s official SMS platforms, 55019 and 66019.
The board advised candidates who took the examination on Thursday to check their results by sending “UTMERESULT” via SMS to 55019 or 66019 using the phone number used during registration.
