|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has told job seekers to ignore a recruitment notice circulating on social media, saying the advert is fraudulent and was not issued by the agency. The warning came in a public notice titled “Fraudulent Recruitment Notice,” posted on the NRS’s official X account at the start of this week. The agency said it has not authorised or begun any recruitment exercise, and it advised the public not to pay money, share personal or financial details, or submit certificates in response to the notice.
According to the NRS, the fake advert is headed “Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS Job Vacancy, Replacement of Corruptly Employed Staff and Need and Offer Platform.” It asks applicants to send their information to a Gmail address, recruitplacementnrs@gmail.com, as reported by New Post Africa. Nairametrics and other outlets carried a shorter version of the title. The agency said its attention had been drawn to the notice, and it was categorical in its response, stating that the notice is fraudulent and did not come from the Service.
The NRS went further than disowning the advert. It said it has not appointed or authorised any individual, agent, consultant or third party to carry out recruitment on its behalf, a line that matters because many job scams rely on a claim that a middleman has been given special access to vacancies. The agency said any genuine recruitment exercise will be announced through its official website and authorised communication channels, and it encouraged the public to verify recruitment-related information through those channels before acting. It also urged people to report suspicious recruitment messages to the appropriate authorities, though the coverage reviewed does not name a specific agency or hotline.
Part of what makes the advert easy to spot is its choice of name. The Federal Inland Revenue Service no longer exists as a separate agency. The Nigeria Revenue Service was created under the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, signed in 2025, and it succeeded FIRS as the federal body responsible for assessing and collecting federal revenue. The NRS reminded the public of this change in its notice and said any recruitment announcement issued in the name of FIRS should be treated with caution and independently verified. A job advert that uses the old name, asks candidates to reply to a free email account, and promises to replace people it describes as corruptly employed carries several warning signs at once.
Those details matter because they point to how the scam is designed. Fraudsters often pick a moment when an institution is in the news. The transition from FIRS to the NRS has been widely discussed, and a notice that appears to speak to that change, even in clumsy wording, can look plausible to someone who is not following the details. The phrase about corruptly employed staff is also a hook that plays on public anger and on the idea that vacancies are being opened up through a clean-out. Real government agencies do not usually announce hiring through a personal email address, and they rarely describe their own staff in such terms.
Recruitment scams are not new in Nigeria, and the NRS is not the first agency to warn about them this year. In July, the Nigeria Customs Service told the public to disregard a fraudulent recruitment advertisement, saying its official recruitment is free and based on merit, and that fraudsters use fake graphics and appointment letters to extract money from job seekers. The Customs statement described recruitment scams as a recurring challenge, with fraudsters exploiting public interest in government jobs. In February, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority also said that unscrupulous people were exploiting young and economically vulnerable Nigerians with fake employment offers, bogus appointment letters and demands for large sums of money, and it stressed that it was not recruiting at any level. The pattern is consistent: a convincing logo, a promise of a secure public-sector job and a request for payment or personal data.
The harm can go beyond the money lost. Victims who hand over certificates, identification documents or bank details may face identity theft or further fraud, and the NRS specifically warned against submitting such documents. Applicants who pay “processing fees” or “training charges” rarely see the money again. In a labor market where many graduates are looking for work, the appeal of a federal revenue job is strong, which is why scammers keep returning to government brands. The reputational damage to the agencies is also real, since each fake advert erodes trust in legitimate hiring.
For job seekers, a few simple checks can reduce the risk. Begin with the source. Official announcements from government agencies appear on their verified websites and social media accounts, and the NRS has said as much. If an advert reaches you through a forwarded message, a chat group or a screenshot, go to the agency’s verified channels and look for the same notice there rather than clicking links in the message. Look at the contact details: a free email address, a mobile number for “enquiries” or a payment account in an individual’s name are all red flags. Be wary of any request for money, since official public-service recruitment in Nigeria is generally free, as the Customs Service has pointed out. Treat urgency, such as “apply within 24 hours,” with suspicion. And do not share certificates, national identification numbers or bank details with anyone who cannot be verified.
People who have already responded to the notice should act quickly. Stop all communication with the sender, avoid sending further documents and, if money was paid, keep the evidence, including screenshots, receipts and the email address used. Reports can be made to the police and to financial crime agencies, and victims may also contact their bank if a transfer was involved. Anyone who submitted identity documents might consider monitoring their accounts for unusual activity. The NRS has not said whether it has taken any action against the senders, and the coverage reviewed does not indicate that arrests have been made.
The episode also shows the value of clear official communication during an institutional change. When an agency is renamed or restructured, the public needs to know where to find reliable information, and fraudsters rely on confusion. The NRS’s quick public notice, posted on its own channel and repeated by news outlets, is the kind of response that helps. It would be even more useful if the agency made its list of verified channels easy to find on every public notice, so that job seekers can confirm them in seconds. Social media platforms also have a role, since fake adverts tend to spread through shares and forwards before an agency can react.
Readers who follow Nigeria’s economy, jobs and technology developments can find more coverage at BusinessTech Nigeria. The agency’s warning is reported in detail by Nairametrics and Naija News.
