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FAKING IT ALL THE WAY Part 2: Diploma mills, degree mills or just your average fake university? André Hesselbäck Uppsala University
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Some key terms.. A diploma mill – will sell you anything A degree mill – sorry, you’ll have do something An unaccredited university – not necessarily a bad thing
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“In the final analysis, the LEGALITY of a degree is ALL that LEGALLY matters.” “The more you learn, the more stupid you get (anonymous professor at Irish International University) “My position is clear: a degree is a degree whether it’s fake or real” (Pakistani MP)
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What exactly is a fake university? A provider of services on a market regulated by supply and demand A diploma mill is an organisation or individual who issues and sells fake or worthless diplomas/transcripts without actually requesting that the recipient has studied for the qualification or even accomplished anything and without there being a recognised authority or organisation supervising its activities. Source: The National Agency for Higher Education, Sweden
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Fake universities – an analysis Legal – illegal Acceptable – unacceptable Low risk – high risk Uppsala – legal, acceptable? MAUP – legal, unacceptable? Rochville – illegal, unacceptable
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Diploma mills – a few examples Irish International University Almeda College and University Rochville/Belford/Bedford etc, etc Washington International University University Degree Program St Regis University
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How to set up your own diploma mill Send spam emails to potential customers Create a Facebook account Market yourself trough search engines and sponsored links Recognise yourself Become recognised, accredited, validated by and/or incorporated in a micro- or fake nation. Affiliate yourself with a church.
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How to set up your own diploma mill Create your own international organisations Diversify yourself – one webb site is not enough Create and make use of a network of subcontractors Buy and sell fake peerages Found your own fake karate schools and become experts on counter-terrorism and security Offer credential evaluation services
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How to set up your own diploma mill Make sure logotypes of well-known credit card companies are visible on the webb site Try your best to sign affiliation agreements with legitimate universities Offer life time verification, 24-7. Use catch phrases – no courses, no classes, no books ”Curriculum is an integration of technology and tradition” Make sure there are few, if any, degree requirements Market yourself as a legitimate alternative to regular higher education Use a inventive internet top-level domain,.ac or.ws
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Some (unofficial) statistics Diploma mills in the USA sell at least 200,000 degrees per year to customers all over the world. Of these, approximately 50,000 are doctoral degrees University Degree Program – 450 billion dollars in five years St Regis University – sold 10,000 degrees to customers in 120 countries Rochville University – the biggest there is… In some countries, 10-15% of degree holders are graduates of diploma mills
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The very reason that you are here is because you want to avail yourself of the positive social engineering possibilities of a legally granted degree. In that action you have proved yourself smarter than BOTH the average citizen with no degree AND smarter than the so-called academics. These are people who have frittered away years in classrooms absorbing blindly and thoughtlessly second hand information in a theoretical environment completely removed from real life, and for what? In order to acquire the right to use the same Title or post-nominal letters that you can legally acquire in a matter of days for the price a meal in a decent restaurant. Who is really smarter? You are the one called to the front of the queue in airports; you are the one getting the free upgrade to first class; you are the one sitting at the good table not too near the band overlooking the river; you are the one dazzling your future employers with your skills and abilities at an interview rather than having your Résumé ditched by a computer programmed to scan all applications and send rejection slips to perfectly capable applicants who happen not to have a degree; The benefits are endless. The degrees available thru us are obtained thru the exploitation of legal loopholes, but legally that does not make them of any less worth of a "worked for" degree. In the final analysis, the LEGALITY of a degree is ALL that LEGALLY matters.
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Google to the rescue!
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Accreditation mills – a booming business
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Of course we’re recognised… in Hutt River.
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Barbican University…where?
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Ascencion Island
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Clone 1
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Clone 2
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Clone 3
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A ”degree outlet”
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Swedish diploma mills
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The next step… Fake credential evaluators International fake university associations
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Why do people buy fake diplomas? Social Status Economy Career For fun Because they see nothing wrong with it
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Centres of production Beijing, Guangdong, China Lagos, Nigeria Hyderabad, India Karachi, Pakistan
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The effects of fake universities They pose a risk to peoples health and lifes. Harm the reputation of recognised universities They have a negative impact on the value of real education Reduce education to a tradeable commodity The revenues are used to finance other forms of crime such as trafficking, arms and drug trade. They may have a negative impact on research and education
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Sources and resources Whed online Anabin Degreeinfo Degreediscussion Nairaland.com
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Thank you for your attention!
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