The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has warned Nigerians against fake, sometimes AI-generated, employment letters circulating in its name, joining a growing list of government agencies battling recruitment fraud.
The warning, issued via a statement on X by NUPRC’s Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, paints a picture of an increasingly sophisticated fraud operation exploiting the desperation of job seekers in a tough labour market.
According to the commission, the fake letters carry the names of individuals who have no connection whatsoever to the regulatory body, a detail that suggests the scam may involve either entirely fabricated personas or the unauthorized use of real names to lend the letters an air of legitimacy.
Beyond the forged documents themselves, the commission disclosed that it had received reports of “unscrupulous and criminal elements” actively extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public, all under the pretext of helping them land jobs at the NUPRC.
Notably, it was in a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Eniola Akinkuotu, that the commission said it had received reports of fake employment letters bearing the names of persons unknown to the NUPRC.
The commission did not stop at merely flagging the problem. It disclosed that it had reported the activities of the suspected fraudsters to law enforcement agencies for investigation, and said it was awaiting the outcome of those investigations, a move that signals the regulator is treating the matter as a criminal enforcement issue rather than a mere public-relations irritant.
Central to the NUPRC’s message was an unambiguous denial: there is, at present, no recruitment drive underway at the commission. Any future hiring exercise, it stressed, would be conducted strictly within the bounds of applicable laws and government regulations, a clear signal that any offer arriving outside official channels should be treated with suspicion.
The commission accordingly advised job seekers and members of the public to disregard any purported employment offer or recruitment process that does not come through its authorized channels.
The NUPRC’s warning is far from an isolated incident. It joins a growing list of Nigerian government ministries, departments and agencies that have had to publicly disown fraudulent recruitment schemes bearing their names in recent months.
In April, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) cautioned Nigerians about scammers using WhatsApp, email and personal phone lines to lure victims into sharing sensitive personal information under the guise of job placement.
In November 2025, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had to disown a bogus online advertisement claiming to recruit Aviation Security personnel through a link falsely associated with the agency.
And as far back as April 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was forced to distance itself from a fraudulent recruitment portal circulating under its name.
What sets the NUPRC case apart and what regulators and cybersecurity analysts alike have flagged as an emerging global concern is the explicit reference to artificial intelligence in the fabrication of these employment letters.
Generative AI tools have made it dramatically easier for fraudsters to produce convincing letterheads, official-sounding language, and even forged signatures, lowering the technical bar for running large-scale impersonation scams.
Analysts tracking employment fraud more broadly have noted that AI-generated content has become an emerging vector in job scams, capable of producing offer letters and documentation that can pass casual scrutiny.
For Nigeria’s public institutions, the implication is sobering: as AI tools become more accessible, the volume and sophistication of impersonation attempts targeting jobseekers are likely to increase, placing a greater burden on agencies to communicate clearly and quickly whenever fake schemes surface and on the public to verify before they pay, click, or share personal information.
For now, the NUPRC’s message to Nigerians is simple: verify before you act, and treat any employment offer that bypasses official channels as a red flag rather than an opportunity.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The NUPRC has no ongoing recruitment, so any employment letter, job offer, or payment request claiming otherwise is fraudulent. With scammers now using AI to forge convincing letters, Nigerians should verify any job offer directly through official NUPRC channels before believing it, sharing personal information, or paying anyone a kobo.
