I love their fraud policy. Think they have been burned a few times??? Anyway, if I can't have my Oxford degree, I don't want any! So there! Wes
Their verification services seem to be in direct conflict with their disclaimer. "Regardless of where you graduated and how you obtained your diploma, we will verify your educational documents in the following 2 easy steps. " (The two easy steps are getting them paid and what lies they should tell, i.e., nothing to do with the truth.) http://www.diplomaville.com/a_verification_services.htm To me it appears that they're party to fraud with who ever decides to use their verification services. I don't think that their disclaimer could save them in a court of law. "Diplomaville.com is a diploma replacement printing company that offers documents and services that are intended solely for entertainment purposes. They have no educational value or merit whatsoever. Diplomaville.com documents are not intended to be used for unlawful misrepresentation or other fraudulent uses. Diplomaville.com is not responsible, and shall not be held liable, for any damages whatsoever as a result of the misuse of our novelty products. Any person or persons attempting to misuse our products for any type of illegal misrepresentation or fraudulent use, accepts full responsibility and shall assume and bear all risk and consequences. " http://www.diplomaville.com/a_disclaimer.htm The problem is that the crime will be taking place in the customer's jurisdiction so they probably won't ever get prosecuted.
Another probably stupid question: I got an MA from Torquemada University (no, not its real name--I refuse to give the &&%#$^@s any publicity whatever). I subsequently lost the diploma. A university in SA wants a notarized copy of the diploma, so I requested a replacement from TU and have been waiting a long time for it. If I order a diploma from this outfit in order to expedite things in SA--mind, the MA is real and from a real RA university--is that fraud? No, I'm not gonna do this, but I was just wondering...
Uncle Janko: "If I order a diploma from this outfit in order to expedite things in SA--mind, the MA is real and from a real RA university--is that fraud?" John: What an intriguing question. I hope one of the lawyers here, preferably one with something better than my $58 Harvard law diploma, will comment. I'm having a contretemps with the US Postal Service over something that seems to come from the same bin, called "inappropriate documents relating to real events." I've been the victim of identity theft. I went to the post office to try to put in a Change of Address notice, to forward mail from my name at the perpetrator's address to my real address. They would not accept the form, since I don't and didn't really live at the address from which I wanted the forwarding. The matter is under discussion.
I noted that my first alma mater, the University of Washington was listed as a sample diploma. I looked at the image under magnification under PhotoDraw. Of interest, the diploma displayed for the UW sure is different in layout than my two diplomas from the UW that I received in person at Hec Ed Pavilion. Fairness compels me to point out, however, that my diplomas were received twenty years ago, and the UW may well have changed the configuration of the current diploma. Heriot-Watt University, which issued my most recent diploma in 2000, is not listed so I could not compare those. This leads me to wonder if a diploma 'look and feel' so to speak, is copyrighted. Could a school purse action against a service such as this on the basis of violating copyright, or are the 'novelty' diplomas just different enough to avoid this? Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
My Harvard medical degree is a perfect reproduction, except that the signature (Derek Bok) doesn't match the year of issue. Over the years, there has been much talk in registrarland (and presumably HR-land) of compiling a book of pictures of diplomas, in the same way that many law enforcement people (bar bouncers, and others) have a book of what drivers licenses look like in all states. It would be an awesome task to compile, especially since designs change so often, and there are places where each college or even department of a university does its own design. Registrars do share this information. At their national convention, there are often talks or workshops, in which people show pictures of documents they were sent, and they explain how they detected the fraud. Some are blatant, but some are very subtle, as in the "that person wasn't the Dean when that diploma is dated" or a slight variation in typeface. There was an article a few years ago about the Undeliverable Diplomas Office at UC Berkeley. As with most schools, they don't give you an actual diploma at graduation, but mail you one later. Over 100+ years, they had accumulated many hundreds of diplomas that were returned as undeliverable and never claimed. The photos that accompanied this article showed dozens of different designs, sizes, shapes, etc.
Wow. I learn something every day. Not having devoted great thought to the subject over the years, I just assumed that university diplomas were static in appearance over the years. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Good place to run a fake school from, but not as good as Mill, Louisiana or Mill, Missouri. Mildly amusing that Columbia Pacific originated in Mill Valley, CA.
LOL! I never thought of Mill Creek in that regard. Mill Creek is a bedroom community of Seattle, Everett and the Eastside and is twenty miles NE of Seattle. It started off as a golf-course community in the early 1970's and now has about 15,000 people within the city limits and surrounding area. Average home prices are about $ 360,000 and average household income is $ 70,000. The nearest university is the UW branch campus in Bothell, about 10 miles down the road. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill (in the flour mill sense) Creek, Washington USA
I would hesitate to call it fraud since there would be no intent to deceive for financial gain. However, I see major copyright, misappropriation of trade name, and since all diplomas are signed, perhaps forgery issues.
I think that a case can be made out for fraud. When you exhibit the "replacement" certificate, you are representing it to be an actual and legitimate certificate, issued by the institutions name that appears thereon. It is clearly not what it proports to be. Wes
...and even the actual wording - My MAcc was 'conferred upon' me, whereas I 'was admitted to' my MEd and post graduate BEd
Heraldic laws Reproducing a UK University degree certificate that contains the University's Crest except under the express authority of the University would constitute a legal offence. The Crest is a registered mark issued under the Authority of a Court in Scotland (I assume the same in England).
