Nigeria Customs Service, NCS said on Monday that it has already arrested 12 suspects who will soon be charged to court as part of its all-out war against internet fraudsters who specialise in extorting money from innocent Nigerians under the pretext of offering them jobs, auctions or contracts in the service.
Wale Adeniyi, spokesperson for NCS said this in a statement in which he also alerted Nigerians of what he described as “integrated of new scheme” by the fraudsters who he said have evolved from using the name of the Nigeria Customs Service to solicit applications for non-existent job offers for a fee that is usually paid into personal bank accounts to the use of social media accounts.
“The advert currently circulating on the WhatsApp platform is the latest of those criminal attempts to mislead desperate job-seekers.
“The post which went viral over the weekend is a copy and paste reproduction of the previous recruitment adverts, with a clever insertion of the Service website address.
“To achieve their criminal objective, the same advert directs applicants to visit a fake website which is ww.customsrecruit.com.ng. Victims are eventually requested to make some payments to complete the phony forms said Adeniyi.
He therefore advised the public to discountenance job advertisements found in any online platforms except those released in the NCS authentic and authoritative platforms: www.customs.gov.ng and www.facebook.com/customsng.
“To avoid being victims, all prospective job seekers and those who want to transact any business with the Service are advised to note the official online platforms as well as visit the nearest Customs station when in doubt,” he added.