Board warns of criminal penalties as over 632,000 results are released and urges candidates to use only official SMS channels

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has arrested two candidates and a parent for allegedly falsifying their 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results using artificial intelligence and other digital tools.

The arrests were announced on Friday, the same day the board released the results of 632,788 candidates who sat for the examination on Thursday, April 16.

In a statement issued by JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, the suspects were accused of manipulating official SMS result notifications to alter scores and mislead unsuspecting recipients, including parents and guardians.

“Currently, two candidates and one parent are in custody for engaging in result falsification using AI and other electronic means,” Benjamin said.

He stressed that such actions amount to a serious criminal offence and warned that the board would not hesitate to prosecute anyone found culpable.

JAMB also cautioned candidates against tampering with result messages sent through its official SMS platforms—55019 and 66019—emphasising that these remain the only authorised channels for checking UTME scores.

Candidates who participated in the April 16 examination can access their results by sending “UTMERESULT” via SMS to either 55019 or 66019 using the phone number linked to their registration. The board noted that printing of official result slips is not yet available but will be enabled later.

The 2026 UTME, which commenced on April 16, is scheduled to run until April 22 at centres nationwide, with results expected to be released in batches as the examination progresses.