According to local reports, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has listed five websites allegedly harvesting Nigerians’ data fraudulently.
“NIMC urges the public to disregard any claims or services these websites offer and should not give their data as they are potentially fraudulent and data provided by the public on such websites are gathered and stored to build the data services they illegally provide,” said a statement issued by NIMC Head of Corporate Communication, Kayode Adegoke.
The 5 websites identified:
Their revelation comes after an expose that the identification details including National Identification Number (NIN), Bank Verification Number (BVN), and other data of Nigerians on AnyVerify.com.ng for as low as N100. This website has monetised the recovery of NINs and personal information on the Nigerian identification database.
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In another expose in March 2024, the Foundation for Investigation Journalism (FIJ) said that XpressVerify.com, a private website, has unrestricted access to the National Identification Numbers (NINs) and personal details of every registered Nigerian.
Anybody can retrieve details such as phone numbers, full names, NIN, address, and photographs of any Nigerian whose data is on the National Identity Database with as low as N200.
The unauthorised access to personal data is a blatant infringement on the privacy of Nigerian citizens as the dissemination of such information could lead to identity theft, financial fraud, and other malicious activities, including data owners being targeted by burglars, kidnappers, or terrorists who buy data that includes home addresses.
Further, the availability of sensitive financial data online could undermine the stability of Nigeria’s banking system.
“At this moment, the Commission assures the public that the data of Nigerians has not been compromised, and the Commission has not authorized any website or entity to sell or misuse the National Identification Number (NIN) amongst all the identities stated in the report.”
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