The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says hackers have gained access into its intranet site and reportedly diverted over N10m after altering the profiles of its ad hoc staff.
This was made known by the Registrar of the exam body, Ishaq Oloyede, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday April 13.
Oloyede who disclosed that the diverted money was the allowance of the board’s ad hoc staff, said it was uncovered after an investigation was carried out.
The investigation also led to the arrest of one Sahabi Zubairu from Takum in Taraba state alongside others.
On how the fraudsters gained access to the profiles, Oloyede explained that they used Key Logger, a software that allows access to the profile of anyone who has logged in using a public cybercafé even after the person has logged out and gone.
He said that the site wasn’t for application to become JAMB ad hoc staff, but for JAMB ad hoc staff to supply their account details and names for payment of their allowances.
Oloyede said Zubairu deleted the names of the original ad hoc staff and their telephone numbers and substituted them with his, adding that those affected include code numbers 313 and 312, among others.
The JAMB registrar also disclosed that the accounting department failed to detect the fraud by not cross-checking the names on the accounts to ensure that they tallied with those listed on the website or owners of the codes.
Revealing that the ad hoc staff of the board have since been paid and also giving an assurance of the stolen money being recovered, Oloyede further stated that payment into the accounts of the beneficiaries led to the divertion.
