‘It’s fraudulent’ — NCC disowns circulating ‘certificate of site ownership’ letter

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has debunked a fraudulent letter issued in the name of the commission.

Reuben Muoka, director, public affairs, NCC, in a statement on Monday, said the commission had, through its social listening and environmental surveillance, discovered the fraudulent letter.

According to NCC, the letter titled; ‘certificate of site ownership for clearance of mast transmission antenna’, has been circulated by some “unidentifiable individuals”, purporting that the document was issued by the NCC.

NCC said the fraudulent letter claimed that it had inspected 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 variants of the fraudulent letter may have been sent to individuals, and organisations, with the intent to defraud, using the name of the commission,” it said.

NCC, therefore, dissociated “itself from the import, and content of this letter, or similar ones, which may have been sent out by the faceless individuals”.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the design and format of the forged letterhead bear 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,” NCC adds.

It also urged the public that telecommunications services are offered by companies which are issued licenses by the commission, adding that the commission also maintains a register of all telecommunications companies in the country. 

“The commission has 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,” it added.

“While the commission frowns at the nefarious activities of these fraudsters, telecom stakeholders, the Nigerian public, and corporate organisations, are advised 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.”