Fake degrees compromise the integrity of a valid qualification and could endanger lives. Fake degrees may also hurt the image of a company as well as reduce employee morale.
It’s important to recognize the distinctive marks of the signs of a diploma mill. Checking employees’ credentials regularly will ensure that their credentials are authentic. This can also help businesses save cash by reducing costs for training as well as recruitment costs.
Diploma Mills
According to Allen Ezell, an 81-year-old retired FBI agent who holds 65 degrees (only one of which is authentic) and has dedicated much of his career to researching diploma mills, the marketplace for fake credentials does $7 billion worldwide in business. However, he cautions that establishing an official blacklist of fake universities is impossible. Fake schools can alter their names, their domains on the internet and other details in order to evade being detected.
These scams often target people who work during the day and would like to pursue higher education after work. These scammers use convincing fake professors, glossy campus images as well as other attractive features to attract their victims.
One way to determine whether a school is legitimate is to look at its history. Check the accreditation of a university that is accredited by a respected organisation. Do not enroll if you find any suspicious signs. Report the school instead to the attorney general of your state. This will prevent the institution from defrauding others. It’s also important to do your research prior to enrolling in any online course. Verify the contact information of the institution and determine whether there are any complaints.
Credential Fraud
Since decades employers and educational institutions have relied upon paper credentials to confirm the qualifications of an applicant. The worldwide diploma mill is growing, creating fake credentials with no value in the market for jobs, and is destroying public trust in higher education.
For example, scammers use aggressive advertising techniques such as spam emails and pop-up ads to lure in customers. They usually claim to offer accredited university degrees in exchange for a fee, but they rarely provide any coursework and exist only on the internet. Sarah Eaton who is a contributor to the Canadian book and also instructs at University of Calgary, says that they also “steal” a well-known name.
Moreover, diploma mills can create degrees from any number of universities–including real ones–and many offer degree programs that are extremely short and involve little to no work. Employers who hire employees with fake degrees are at risk of being fired or even arrested later in their career for fraud. To avoid such problems, employers must adopt best methods of confirming a candidate’s qualifications. It is crucial to run an education test on a candidate prior to their hiring, and also ensure that they have the ability to spot fake degrees.
Fake degrees impact on genuine qualifications
False degrees diminish the value of genuine academic achievement and undermine the merit-based system of advancement. Fake degrees can also be dangerous. For example when a healthcare professional is not qualified and credentials, it could result in poor patient care. Similarly, fraudulent law enforcement credentials may result in unqualified police officers enforcing the law and damaging public confidence with law enforcement authorities.
False academic certificates can negatively impact companies. They can lead to lower productivity and increased expenses as companies are forced to spend money to train employees who do not have the required abilities to fulfill their tasks. Companies that hire fake academic credentials could also be afflicted with a bad reputation and lose clients and customers who appreciate honesty and integrity.
Employers can avoid hiring workers with fake academic credentials by using process to verify degrees in the process of interviewing. Check for any discrepancies in information on applications and resumes such as dates of attendance and majors. Also, be wary of applicants who seem hesitant or unwilling to provide detailed information about their education.
Online Education Verification Challenges
As the online education landscape is evolving and evolve, so will the requirement for reliable verification methods. From education institutions to employers all parties must have confidence in the legitimacy of online academic credentials.
However, the growth of diploma mills and sophisticated nature of fake credentials are making the process more difficult. Ezell estimates that fake degrees are now valued at $7 billion per year worldwide.
Another issue that is facing this field is the wide range of standards across distance learning providers. Some institutions adhere to high academic standards, while others may be loosely accredited or may not even be accredited. This could result in a lack of consistency that can be difficult for evaluation experts to discern.
Because of the global character of education online verification systems must be able account for the cultural and legal differences that exist across different countries. To address these issues, new technologies such as tamperproof digital certificates as well as biometric authentication, inter-institutional network that allows the exchange of verified data are being developed. These innovations are changing the world of online education and fostering more trust and confidence in virtual education and learn more at https://lambang-toanquoc.com/.
How do you fight fake degrees?
Fake degrees are a complex and difficult problem to tackle. They’re multi-national, difficult to detect and feed an apparent insatiable need for academic degrees. Eaton and Ezell mention that it’s hard to create an official blacklist of fraud institutions and degree mills. They also note that fraudsters are able to change their names and domains online. They also recommend employers conduct thorough background checks on their employees. This involves contacting reputable agencies and contacting universities that have awarded the degrees.
The ease with that fake degrees are purchased and used undermines the value of actual qualifications, and could put lives in danger. The authors call for further investigation using analytical tools in economics to investigate the significance of fake degrees and the associated markets. For instance, they suggest examining transaction costs or responsibility allocation. It would be useful to analyze these issues within the framework of club theory. This paper is a beginning step towards analyzing this. Read the accompanying material for more information. Note: The authors would like to thank James Monroe University, which supplied the data for this article.