Education Scams: Diploma Mills and Fraud Degrees
Quick degree scams - "Get your degree in 30 days!" "No studying required", "Turn your experience into a degree". They say they are accredited and the degree is legal and meaningful. That's part of the scam.
World
Universities to watch out for: The A-Z lists (2003, June 21). The Weekend
Australian.
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| Australia Lawrence, J. (2005, April 3). How a fake degree can be deadly. The Sunday
Mail QLD. O'Keefe, B. (2004, October 16). Students duped in uni racket. The Weekend
Australian. Calvert, J. (2004, July 22). Degrees for sale. Herald Sun. Fielding, P. (2004, July 21). Fake uni degrees for sale. Oakleigh
Monash/Spingvale Dandenong Leader. Lawnham, P. (2002, April 10). Windows open for more fakes. The Australian.
Online buy-a-degree scam targets Asians; For the right price, net conmen will
send fake certs, some 'verifiable'. (2002, February 11). The Straits Times.
Brunei Fake degrees. (2003, November 22). Borneo Bulletin. Stephen, I. (2002, February 15). Fake degree scam alert in Brunei. Borneo
Bulletin. Canada Hutchinson, B. (2007, July 23). Higher learning? Critics question fledgling
university as delays continue. National Post. Rogue colleges hurt B.C. (2007, June 25). Times Colonist. Available
from Lexis Nexis Academic. Bermingham, J. (2007, June 8). Gov't probes private colleges; New measures
after hundreds of foreign students scammed. The Vancouver Province.
Available from Lexis Nexis Academic. Millar, E. (2007, May 11). Vancouver University Worldwide ordered to stop
granting degrees. Macleans.ca China Macartney, J. (2006, October 26). Student rampage unnerves leaders. The
Times (London). China's police busts college enrollment fraud cases (2006, August 11). New
China News Agency. In China, bribery and fakery lower the value of degrees. (2002, August 2).
The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A33. Diploma forgery goes electronic in China. (2001, September 21). The
Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A39. Kwang, M. (2000, April 26). Pssst, do you want a degree? The Straits
Times. Kwang, M. (2000, April 26). Huge forgery business. The Straits Times.
Ghana Fake Degrees for Sale - How many Ghanaians have fallen prey? (2004, July 12).
AllAfrica. India Singh, K. K. (2000, March 3). Vigilance report to governor: BNMU awarding
fake degrees. The Times of India. Israel Stoil, R. (2006, November 15). Jerusalem resident arrested for selling phony
diplomas over Internet. The Jerusalem Post. McKinnon, I., Farago, Y., & Norfolk, A. (2004, January 23). Israeli police
are set to investigate degree scam. The Times. McKinnon, I., Farago, Y., & Norfolk, A. (2004, January 23). Israeli police
are set to investigate degree scam. The Times. MacKinnon, I., & Norfolk, A. (2004, January 22). British university with
branch in Israeli petrol station 'issued 5,500 bogus degrees'. The Times.
Degrees of corruption. (2001, December 13). The Jerusalem Post. Italy Bompard, P. (2005, September 16). Italy's Internet dottores risk jail. The
Times Higher Education Supplement. Japan Thacker, P. (2006, December 15). What's in a name? Inside Higher Ed.
Korea Korea's first belly dancer indicted over forged academic degree (2007,
November 12). Korea Times. Tae-jong, K. (2007, November 12). Byeon, Shin deny charges at 1st trial.
Korea Times. Ko-hill, B. (2007, October 10). Solutions to rampant diploma falsification
cases. Korea Times. Rahn, K. (2007, September 22). Byeon, Shin likely to be charged after
holidays. Korea Times. Available from LexisNexis Academic. 2nd warrant sought for Byeon, Shin (2007, September 22). The Korea Herald.
Available from LexisNexis Academic. Prosecutors get goods on Shin, Byeon confesses (2007, September 21). The
Korea Herald. Available from LexisNexis Academic. Rahn, K. (2007, September 18). Arrest warrant sought for disgraced curator.
Korea Times. Available from LexisNexis Academic. Lee, S. (2007, September 1). Revelations of false credentials shake South
Korea. The New York Times. Fake educational credentials and law (2007, August 29). The Korea Herald.
Available from Lexis Nexis Academic. College denies role in fraudulent diploma scandal (2007, August 28). The
Korea Herald. Available from Lexis Nexis Academic. Rahn, K. (2007, August 27). Suspicions grow over Shin's diploma forgery.
Korea Times. Available from Lexis Nexis Academic. Hyun-joo, J. (2005, January 15). Fake degrees sneak into nation. The Korea
Herald. Liberia Liberian embassy official tied to diploma mill scam. (2005, August 22).
Liberian Observer. Fake medical college boss flees? (2005, April 6). AllAfrica. Who authorized the operation of fake medical school? (2005, April 5).
AllAfrica. Medical Board threatens to prosecute founder of 'fake' medical school. (2005,
March 31). AllAfrica. Prosecution awaits 'fake' medical doctors. (2005, March 31). AllAfrica.
19 So-called doctors denied licenses. (2005, March 30). AllAfrica. We hail the Medical Board's action. (2005, March 30). AllAfrica. Fake medical school discovered. (2005, March 18). AllAfrica. Morlin, B. (2003, December 5). Online school founder got his degrees on Web.
The Spokesman-Review. Malaysia Veera, S. (2003, July 18). Students could end up with fake degrees. Malay
Mail. Nepal Nepal cracks down on fake degrees. (2003, February 7). The Chronicle of
Higher Education. New Zealand Ross, M. (2002, March 17). Degree fakery goes back eons but it's easier now.
The National Business Review. Maling, N. (2002, January 20). Varsities' fury over fake online degrees.
The Sunday Star-Times (Auckland). Fake web degrees perturb NZ unis. (2002, January 30). The Australian.
Overseas websites offering fake NZ varsity degrees. (2002, January 20).
The New Zealand Herald. Nigeria Nigeria: Alleged Forgery (2007, August 14). Daily Champion. Available
from Lexis Nexis Academic. Kigotho, W. (2004, November 12). University in Nigeria fights degree fraud.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 51(12), p. A38. Pakistan Body formed to look into fake degree issue. (2005, May 3). Asia Pulse Pte.
Accused confess involvement of PU officials in issuing fake degrees. (2004,
October 30). Asia Pulse Pte. 6 More officials held for selling fake educational degrees. (2004, October
26). Asia Pulse Pte. Inter-province gang involved in issuing fake degrees busted. (2004, October
17). Asia Pulse Pte. Russia Holdsworth, N. (2004, October 22). Libel threat over law degree sale
allegation. The Times Higher Education Supplement. Osborn, A. (2004, October 17). Degrees for sale: Corruption scandal engulfs
Russia's leading university. The Independent on Sunday. MacWilliams, B. (1999, July 16). Diplomas for sale on Moscow's streets.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A43. Serbia Serbia charges 'education mafia' over degree scam (2007, February 22).
Agence France Presse. Available from Lexis Nexis Academic. Sierra Leone Thomas, R. (2000, September 26). 86 people get fake degrees. Concord
Times: AllAfrica. Singapore Lum, S. (2004, September 11). Fake degree racket: Nine cheated out of
$40,000. The Straits Times. http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/ Paid subscription required.
South Africa Maker, J. & Power, M. (2007, July 8). Academic faces inquiry over Shaik
thesis scandal. Sunday Times (South Africa). Available from Lexis
Nexis Academic. Feni, Z. (2006, November 24). Watch out for bogus colleges, matrics told.
IOL. Academic. Use of fake degrees increases. (2003, July 8). Business Day. University degree scams: Degrees of deceit. (2002, July 9). AllAfrica.
Sweden Buscall, J. (2005, June 3). Sweden faces surge in bogus degrees. The Times
Higher Education Supplement. Uganda Australian held in Uganda over fake uni (2007, February 21). The Age.
Ahimbisibwe, F. (2006, September 8). Makerere transcripts forged. New
Vision, available at All Africa. The United Kingdom Denholm, A. (2007, November 8). Bogus college couple held on fraud claims.
The Herald (Glasgow). Davis, A. (2007, July 24). Clampdown on colleges in migrant visas scam.
The Evening Standard. Available from Lexis Nexis Academic. Curtis, P. (2005, November 7). GMC launches inquiry into private medical
schools. Guardian. Chapman, M. (2005, November 6). Some medical degrees 'worthless'. BBC
News. Hughes, R. (2005, September 23). College fury at web link to fake degrees;
Cyber-squatters have taken domain name. Daily Post. Baty, P. (2004, November 12). 'Plagiarised' MBA application raises bogus
degree concerns. The Times Higher Education Supplement. McKinnon, I., Farago, Y., & Norfolk, A. (2004, January 23). Israeli police
are set to investigate degree scam. The Times. MacKinnon, I., & Norfolk, A. (2004, January 22). British university with
branch in Israeli petrol station 'issued 5,500 bogus degrees'. The Times.
The United States of America Klein, G. (2007, November 18). A degree of much difficulty. Los Angeles
Times. Seifman, D. (2007, September 7). Fake-college bravest fined. New York
Post. Jaschik, S. (2007, September 4). Courts uphold autonomy for seminaries ? Will
decision help diploma mills too? Inside Higher Ed. Rock, S. (2007, July 14). Missouri criticized over its religious exemption to
degree-granting schools. Kansas City Star. Rock, S. (2007, July 14). Unaccredited school in Grandview offers degrees of
uncertainty. Kansas City Star. Redden, E. (2007, April 27). MIT dean claimed unearned degrees. Inside
Higher Ed. Lundgren, P. (2007, March 6). Legal fight, new partner spur Medquest move.
BusinessNorth.com. Acton, R. (2007, February 11). Medical students criticize school in St.
Kitts. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Chan, S. (2007, February 1). Report says 14 in fire department used fake
degrees. The New York Times. Acton, R. (2007, January 1). Latrobe man's medical school in Caribbean is
target of probe. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Spears, V. (2006, October 4). State medical board to investigate Arnett.
Lexington Herald-Leader. Spears, V. (2006, October 1). Doctored diplomas: A trail of bogus claims and
life-threatening consequences. Lexington Herald-Leader. Spears, V. (2006, October 1). With medical credentials, it''s patient beware.
Lexington Herald-Leader. Bollag, B. (2006, September 8). Accreditation of college in former Soviet
Republic raises questions of oversight. Chronicle of Higher Education.
Gollin, G. (2006, April). Fake diplomas: A threat to higher education.
Symmetry Magazine. Bartlett, T. (2006, March 31). Fake university paid bribes for credentials.
Chronicle of Higher Education. Phillips, S. (2005, November 25). A stress-free PhD? A snip at $250. The
Times Higher Education Supplement, p. 19. Rodriguez, I. (2005, November 11). Miami-Dade man to agree to 2 years in
prison for setting up phony diploma mill. Sun-Sentinel. Morlin, B. (2005, October 27). Fraud suspects buried cash, prosecutor says:
Colbert couple accused of selling fabricated online college degrees. Spokane
Spokesman. Jaschik, S. (2005, September 2). College withdraws credits awarded in
distance education scheme. Inside Higher Education News. Smallworld, S. (2005, August 15). Federal officials raid homes in 3 states in
crackdown on diploma mill. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Epstein, D. (2005, July 8). Class dismissed. Inside Higher Education News.
Epstein, D. (2005, July 7). Scarlet letter. Inside Higher Education News.
Carnevale, D. (2005, February 11). Education department takes aim at diploma
mills with a new web site. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Lederman, D. (2005, February 2). New tools to take on diploma mills.
Inside Higher Education News. Engber, D. (2004, December 8). Online university hears the cat's meow in
consumer-fraud lawsuit over bogus degrees. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). Inside the multimillion-dollar
world of diploma mills. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A8.
Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). What's a diploma mill? The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A9. Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). Psst. wanna buy a Ph.D.?
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A9. Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). Maxine Asher has a degree for
you. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A12. Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). The hypnotist who married Lana
Turner. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A13. Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). The university of spam. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A14. Bartlett, T., & Smallwood, S. (2004, June 25). Tilting at diploma mills.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(42), p. A17. Carnevale, D. (2004, May 21). Senators call for a crackdown on online diploma
mills. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(37), p. A33. Usborne, D. (2004, May 6). US teachers buying fake degrees in order to
qualify for a pay rise. The Independent. Bribery scam produces Southern discomfort (2004, May 4). The Times Higher
Education Supplement. Bartlett, T. (2004, April 2). Member of accrediting group has Ph.D. from
'notorious diploma mill'. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(30), p.
A29. Carnevale, D. (2004, February 13). Federal and state officials discuss
cracking down on online diploma mills. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(23),
p. A32. Morlin, B. (2003, November 30). Spokane a 'hot spot' for dubious degrees.
The Spokesman-Review. Cowan, L. (2003, July 25). Cracking down on diploma mills. CBS News.
Clayton, M. (2003, June 4). Fake diplomas are easy to buy online, but
colleges are becoming more wary. The Christian Science Monitor. Foster, A. L. (2003, February 7). On the web, it's easy to earn straight A's:
Colleges face uphill battle in fight against sites selling fraudulent
transcripts. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 49(22), p. A25. Potter, W. (2003, February 7). U.S. Investigations find potential fraud in
student aid and diploma mills. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 49(22),
p. A19. Potter, W. (2003, January 23). Fake diplomas are easy to purchase on the
Internet, federal investigators find. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Real schools: 1. For U.S. schools, accreditation must be recognized by the Council on
Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) which is online at
www.chea.org; or spot the fakes:
1. Can you contact the school?If the only way to interact with the school is through its website, this is a solid clue that the school is a diploma mill. At the very least, there should be some sort of street address and telephone number. No reputable school would make it that difficult to contact it. Usually schools go overboard and provide multiple contact points.Sponsored Links2. Does the school's website have accreditation doublespeak?If the school is trying to convince you that accreditation is optional or that it is solely for federal financial aid, walk away. While the first part is certainly true, the number of reputable schools without proper accreditation is minute. Schools earn accreditation to show that they are operating at a particular level. No reputable school attempts to convince you that accreditation is meaningless.3. What does the school's website look like?While you will find many diploma mills that have very good, very professional-looking websites, the truly awful ones are almost certainly diploma mills. If it looks like it was made with Microsoft Publisher or a similar low-end program (go to View > Page Source in your web browser to determine that), the odds increase that it is a diploma mill. Certainly a criterion that should not be used alone because some of the mill websites are quite good. However, there are many, many truly awful ones.4. Does the school not have a .edu suffix (as in yale.edu)?Be careful here. No reputable schools lack it, but a few truly horrible ones have it. Unfortunately, Educause, which is responsible for the .edu suffix, has not done a good job of monitoring previous owners. Yes, it is more difficult now to get one, but that does nothing to stop the older mills. Keep in mind that it has only recently become available to community colleges, so some of those may not have yet converted to .edu.5. Is it a small school, yet offers hundreds of majors?The number of majors that some of these supposed schools offer is truly astounding. While it is not possible to determine how large or small a school is based solely on a website, it is possible to get some sense of the endeavor. There is nothing wrong with small schools. There are small schools that only offer one or two majors. This is perfectly acceptable. However, when you are tiny and you offer hundreds, this can be problematic.6. Can you find anyone's name on the website?Schools are often proud of their faculty and it is common to list faculty with schools from which they graduated. It is also common to have a picture of the president as well as a short introduction to the school written by that president. For proof, look at www.harvard.edu or chapman.edu. Criminals hide their identities. Why not disclose names? One possibility is to hide the fact that there is no teaching faculty.7. Is it listed as a diploma mill or as having unrecognized accreditation?Check the Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press, 2006). I readily admit that I am a co-author of the book, but it is also the best print resource for lists of these schools. Again, just because a school is not specifically called a diploma (or degree) mill in the book, does not mean that it is not one. It can mean that there is not conclusive proof at this point.8. Is the school listed on CHEA's website?Is the school and its accreditor listed on the Council on Higher Education Accreditation's website (www.chea.org)? Only reputable accreditors and schools are listed on this website. CHEA is the accreditor for accreditors. In addition to the six regional accreditors, there are professional and alternative accreditors, so it is worth taking a look even if the organization does not sound familiar. Also, the U.S. Department of Education accredits accreditors (such as the ACCSCT).9. Are there any Better Business Bureau reports on the school?One or two is not a big deal. However, any school, accredited or not, that has many reports is worth avoiding. You will usually get better results by calling the BBB ( www.bbb.org) where the school says it is located. By the way, one possibility for having no reports is that the school does not exist or does not exist in the locality where it states that it does.10. Is it listed on the U.S. Department of Education's website?See www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation. This is a relatively new resource and is not without its problems, but it is a good beginning. The more sources for such information, the better. Be careful, though, because several suspect schools have been found on the list.
See also:
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page. |