Just as Nigerians complain about their National ID cards, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown turned up and made many realise the National ID Number (NIN) they got after enrolment was probably all they needed in the first place.

For those desperate for the National ID card which NIMC failed to quickly issue to them, an opportunity was made available to online scammers.

These guys are tricky, I had to visit the NIMC Twitter and site to find out what was going on.
My findings are below.

Beware of the fake "National Identity Card" Facebook Page

The Real NIMC Facebook account - https://m.facebook.com/nimc.ng/

- The account name is simply "NIMC"

- It's linked to on NIMC's official website www.nimc.gov.ng .

- It tends to contain official posts (and complaint comments).

- It links back to the official NIMC website.


The Fake NIMC Facebook account - https://m.facebook.com/identitycardno/

- The account name is dubiously called "National Identity Card".

- It's not linked to on NIMC's official website www.nimc.gov.ng .

- It tends to contain posts based on information gathered online along with false information such as false work resumption notices, NIMC app on Google Play and pictures gotten from the public (and apparently NIMC staff - we'll get to that)

- It does not link back to the official NIMC website, instead links to the https://penrol.nimc.gov.ng/ subdomain which sometimes cannot even be accessed.

It was shocking, here was a Facebook page just collecting personal National ID details from the public and sometimes even posting them for the whole world to see.
Unsuspecting Nigerians looking for all ways to understandably their National ID cards just get to this fake account and start supplying their details.
They are even made to contact some dubious-looking phone and WhatsApp numbers.
God only knows if money is being taken from them as well.

Was NIMC even aware of this scam seemingly involving some members of its staff? I say that because going through the fake account's posts it is clear that there must be some NIMC staff involved:

- they are able to access and post pictures not only of people's National ID cards and documents, but pictures from within NIMC offices as well

- they keep trying to guess NIMC operation commencement dates after the lockdown and product launch dates as if they heard rumours from work colleagues which all turn out to be false (hence so many false promises on the Facebook account)

- they are aware of the inner workings of some NIMC app that most Nigerians haven't even heard of but they have no control over/access to NIMC's Google Play page so they resort to trying to get people to download an APK file they say is the app itself - never download APKs from dubious sources, that's how to lose your personal information or get your phone hacked.

At least when I checked further, NIMC acknowledged the presence of this fake account.
On NIMC Facebook - [url]https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2934218803292027&substory_index=0&id=192729797440955&__tn__=%2As%2As-R[/url]
On NIMC Twitter - https://mobile.twitter.com/nimc_ng/status/1256588999084462087
On NIMC website - https://www.nimc.gov.ng/public-notice-beware-of-fake-nimc-social-media-accounts/

One can only pray that NIMC and the Federal Government get their act together to solve this slow National ID attainment process to prevent all sorts of scammers having a field day at the expense of innocent citizens.

Take care everyone.

Nna Na Wa ooh

We are living in 'dangerous' Internet times.

Wicked people!

Nigeria can never change. Why are they collecting people's information, for shady deal I guess. May God help Nigeria youths.

They could be scamming people out of their money and also be in the position to use people's IDs in scamming others.
We have to be careful how we give out our personal details especially online.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/2q4K0fL/20200908-170146.jpg[/img]

"Fan page..."

"Not by force...":

https://i.ibb.co/3yJ8Tw0/20200916-212755.jpg


Wow, wow.

https://i.ibb.co/DDN4PKc/20201007-204914-02.jpg

"The best way to prove you're not a scammer is to reveal your identity (name, photo, address) as you do with other people's"