The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a strong warning to Nigerians over a disturbing rise in fraud involving the illegal sale of citizens’ National Identification Numbers (NIN). The commission said it will not be held responsible for any consequences arising from individuals who voluntarily share their NIN details with unauthorized parties.

This warning follows a disclosure by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which revealed that over 2,000 Nigerians have already fallen victim to a fraud scheme. According to the EFCC, scammers are offering victims between ₦1,500 and ₦2,000 in exchange for their personal data, which is later resold to Fintech companies for as much as ₦5,000. “This fraud scheme is largely driven by an army of young Nigerians,” the EFCC noted, raising concerns about the scale of the operation.

In a statement issued on Sunday, NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Dr. Kayode Adegoke, described the trend as a “serious security concern” with “grave consequences for the NIN holders.” He cautioned that careless disclosure of personal information could lead to identity theft, fraud, and other criminal activities. Nigerians were urged to guard their NINs as securely as they would their ATM PINs or passwords and were encouraged to use the NIMC’s NINAuth app for secure identity verification. Service providers were also reminded to rigorously verify NINs before granting access to services, in order to protect users and maintain data integrity.