2008 Woodie Awards
Bogus diplomas sold at an alarming rate on the Web
By: Steve Rock, MCT Wire Service
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: News
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Need a college degree to get ahead? Don't want to attend classes to get it? Well, hop on the Internet and buy a fake transcript and diploma.
Phony diplomas are proliferating on the Web, leading to fears of academic fraud and a constant legal battle by universities to protect their good names.
Officials at Kansas State University, for example, recently instructed their trademark-licensing agent to send a cease-and-desist letter to a Web site that offered a fake Kansas State University diploma and transcript for $249.99. On any given day, the same thing could be happening at many other universities.
Various Web sites advertise the documents as "replacement" or "novelty" diplomas.
Disclaimers on some sites say the diplomas should not be used in place of authentic sheepskins. But education officials fear that the documents can lead to people pretending to have degrees or grades they did not earn.
"Diploma fraud is an enormous problem," said Barmak Nassirian, the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in Washington. "Stuff is coming at us so fast that we can't even gain awareness, let alone do anything about it."
The Kansas City Star found at least 12 Web sites that claim to offer diplomas from legitimate U.S. institutions. One site brazenly boasts "10 years in the underground of counterfeiting documents."
When universities learn of the sites _ as Kansas State University officials learned from The Kansas City Star _ they act to keep the phony diplomas out of circulation.
The site to which Kansas State University officials sent the letter shut down recently, but former FBI agent Allen Ezell said it is only a matter of time before another site takes its place.
Ezell, who spent more than a decade investigating fake colleges and fraudulent degrees, said the industry is worth millions of dollars and is growing.
Phony diplomas are proliferating on the Web, leading to fears of academic fraud and a constant legal battle by universities to protect their good names.
Officials at Kansas State University, for example, recently instructed their trademark-licensing agent to send a cease-and-desist letter to a Web site that offered a fake Kansas State University diploma and transcript for $249.99. On any given day, the same thing could be happening at many other universities.
Various Web sites advertise the documents as "replacement" or "novelty" diplomas.
Disclaimers on some sites say the diplomas should not be used in place of authentic sheepskins. But education officials fear that the documents can lead to people pretending to have degrees or grades they did not earn.
"Diploma fraud is an enormous problem," said Barmak Nassirian, the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in Washington. "Stuff is coming at us so fast that we can't even gain awareness, let alone do anything about it."
The Kansas City Star found at least 12 Web sites that claim to offer diplomas from legitimate U.S. institutions. One site brazenly boasts "10 years in the underground of counterfeiting documents."
When universities learn of the sites _ as Kansas State University officials learned from The Kansas City Star _ they act to keep the phony diplomas out of circulation.
The site to which Kansas State University officials sent the letter shut down recently, but former FBI agent Allen Ezell said it is only a matter of time before another site takes its place.
Ezell, who spent more than a decade investigating fake colleges and fraudulent degrees, said the industry is worth millions of dollars and is growing.
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