OREANDA-NEWS. June 14, 2012. The management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has called on members of the public to beware of persons who are impersonating its Group Managing Director (GMD) Engineer Austen Oniwon on the internet using various social media platforms.

In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, Mr. Fidel Pepple speaking for the Group General Manager Public Affairs Division of the NNPC stated that “the activities of these criminally minded persons entail the issuance of fake letters on the internet with the aim of defrauding innocent members of the public including investors within and outside Nigeria.”

He stressed that these criminals were taking advantage of the growing popularity and utilization of the internet especially the social media platforms to perpetrate their fraudulent activities.

Mr. Pepple noted that the damage done by the activities of these fraudsters on the hard-earned reputation of the GMD was incalculable.

He explained that the GMD does not have any account in any of the social media networks (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedln etc) and urged the public to disregard any request allegedly coming from him.

He said the Corporation has sought the intervention of the State Security Service (SSS) to curb these unwholesome acts.