Less than 24 hours after FIJ exposed nimcverify.ng for illegally selling Nigerians’ personal information, the website has changed completely and withdrawn its data modification and verification services.
Before the report, the site openly allowed anyone to print another person’s National Identification Number (NIN) record using just a phone number.
READ ALSO: Another Illegal Website Offers Access to Nigerians’ NIN Details With Just N150, Phone Number
It also offered NIN modification, BVN lookup, and other unauthorised services for as little as N150. All of this was run by an administrator called “Timzytech Developers”.
At press time, the platform no longer offered any of those services. When FIJ revisited it, the old order forms and payment instructions had left the website.
Instead, it displayed a static information page that stated the importance of keeping NINs safe and how to avoid fraud.
The old version of the site — with its menu of services, payment channels and transaction instructions — has been replaced with a plain, advice-style page.
The new page contained no obvious links or contact points to request NINs, BVNs or any other personal data. There were no listed prices, no payment details and no service descriptions. The entire operation appeared to have been wiped from public view.
Selling Nigerians’ personal data without permission is a criminal offence under the NIMC Act, 2007. It is punishable by at least N1 million in fines, a minimum of three years in prison, or both.
READ ALSO: NINCard Illegally Provided ID Services. NIMC Knew 13 Months Ago but Didn’t Shut It Down
The Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, also forbids such sales, with penalties of up to N10 million or 2% of a company’s annual gross revenue for individuals and small entities, and up to N2 billion or 2% of turnover for larger organisations, alongside possible shutdown orders.
It is not clear if the operators of nimcverify.ng have shut down completely or are only taking a break to avoid attention. FIJ will continue to monitor the website to see if the services quietly return in the future.
The post Hours After FIJ’s Story, Website Selling Nigerians’ Data Withdraws Services appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.