The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has discovered, through social listening and environmental surveillance, that a fraudulent letter, titled ‘Certificate of Site Ownership’, for clearance of ‘Mast Transmission Antenna’, is being circulated by some unidentifiable fraudsters purporting that the letter was issued by it.
The fraudulent letter claimed that the Commission had conducted an inspection on a certain site which is for “9-Mobile Telecommunications Company G.P.R.S”. The fraudsters also gave conditions that the unsuspecting recipient of the letter would meet to make the certificate valid and effective for use by “10th November 2022”. It is possible that several and variants of the fraudulent letter may have been sent to individuals, and organizations, with the intent to defraud, using the name of the Commission.
The Commission, therefore, dissociated itself from the import and content of this letter, or similar ones, which may have been sent out by the faceless individuals.
It clarified: “For the avoidance of doubt, the design and format of the forged letterhead bears no similarity with those of the Commission. The department quoted in the fraudulent letter is non-existent at the Commission. The signatory to the letter is also not known to the Commission.
“The public is hereby advised to note that telecommunications services are offered by companies which are issued licences by the Commission. The Commission also maintains a register of all telecommunications companies in the country.
“Suffice it to say, that, the process of initiating, or exchanging correspondence between the Commission, and the licensees, has definite and distinct standard and style”, the NCC added.
In addition, the Commission stated that it had very open and credible channels of communication, through which all information about it, and its activities, including matters relating to correspondence on any subject matter, can be leveraged for verification.
While frowning at the nefarious activities of the fraudsters, the NCC advised all telecom stakeholders in the country to be wary of the wiles of many fraudsters prowling in the streets with all kinds of illegitimate documents, to avoid being victims of their nefarious activities.
