By UCHE USIM, Abuja

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, on Monday raised the alarm that fraudsters now pose as directors of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

The alert was contained in a public notice on the activities of fraudsters signed by the AGF.

He revealed that the criminals usually identified themselves as Dr. Charles Wabande using the mobile number telephone number 09043177807 and Hajia Binta Bello with the mobile number 08038898704.

According to him, the scammers usually phone unsuspecting public service staff and retirees, posing as Directors of IPPIS and solution providers who can swiftly facilitate the payment of their outstanding arrears for a fee.

He said, “the fraudsters, who usually demand money for their proposed services, also tell the unsuspecting persons about a 2020 IPPIS recruitment form and refer such persons to a supposed IPPIS recruitment portal onwww.ippis.gov.ng.

The AGF who disclaimed the activities of these fraudsters, stated pointedly that, “the IPPIS had no mandate to recruit Officers into the Federal Civil Service and there was no IPPIS website for recruitment”

He maintained that, “IPPIS Desk Officers will not put calls through to retirees and staff having salary arrears; that IPPIS does not handle or pay pension; that the IPPIS office will never request for monetary benefit to facilitate any payment; and that the so called Hajia Binta Bello and Dr. Charles Wabande or whichever name they answer, are not staff of IPPIS or any MDAs on the IPPIS Platform.

Ahmed thus advised members of the public to ignore calls, publications and/or online messages from these fraudsters to avoid falling victims and to report such activities to the security agencies.

He stressed that “the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation should not be held liable as a result of any dealings directly, indirectly or consequential arising as a result of transactions with the fraudsters”. (The Sun)